' 


MARY  H  WADE 

V,  .JL..A  «  -    -LJ— •/-*—' 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT 


V/illiam  P.Wreden 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 


THEY  NEVER  EXPECTED  TO  FEEL  SO  GRAND  IN  THEIR  LIVES  AGAIV. 


TWIN    TRAVELERS 
^     IN    INDIA 


BY 

MARY  H.  iWADE 

Author  of  "Twin  Travelers  in  South  America,"  "Twin  Travelers 
in  the  Holy  Land,"  "The  Little  Cousin  Series,"  etc. 


WITH  A  FRONTISPIECE  IN  COLOR  AND  EIGHT 
ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 


All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of  translation 
into  foreign  languages. 


'~pz^ 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY      .     .     .     .     ,     .     .  1 

II  OTHER  STRANGE  SIGHTS        ......  17 

III  ON  THE  WAY  NORTH      .......  29 

IV  THE  WONDERFUL  DAYS  OP  OLD     ....  37 
V  SAFE  IN  KASHMIR       ........  45 

VI  THE  PEDDLERS 53 

VII  THE  SIGHTS  OF  SRINAGAR 59 

VIII  IN  A  HOUSEBOAT 65 

IX  IN  FAMOUS  DELHI 69 

X  SIGHTSEEING  IN  AGRA 77 

XI  A  TIGER  STORY 83 

XII  A  WONDERFUL  ADVENTURE 93 

XIII  STRANGE  SIGHTS  ON  THE  GANGES  ....  103 

XIV  IN  CALCUTTA 113 

XV  ON  TO  BURMA  121 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

They  never  expected  to  feel  so  grand  in  their  lives 
again Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

There  before  them  squatted  a  Hindu  playing  upon  a 

reed  pipe 20 

The  Pool  of  Immortality,  in  the  middle  of  which  stands 

the  famous  Temple  of  Gold 42 

A  state  procession  at  Delhi 72 

There  seem  to  be  more  monkeys  than  people  in  Gulta  100 

Hindu  pilgrims  bathing  in  the  Ganges  at  Benares  .  .  108 
Bullocks  are  used  to  haul  products  from  the  rich  inland 

plains 118 

Four  hundred  steps  lead  up  to  the  Burmese  Pagoda  .  126 
The  wise  creatures  gathered  up  the  lumber  and  placed 

it  in  piles 128 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 


CHAPTER  I 

AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY 

AUNT  NELL!" 
"Well,  Joe,  what  is  it?" 

"I  wonder  if  you  can  understand  how  I  feel — as 
if — as  if  I  were  in  a  strange,  new  world  that  doesn't 
seem  quite  real."  The  lad's  usually  laughing  eyes 
were  quite  serious. 

Mrs.  Andrews  smiled.  "I  believe,"  she  answered, 
"we  shall  find  India  very  real  as  well  as  very  won- 
derful." 

'  *  Only  think ! ' '  Joe  went  on  suddenly.  ' '  It  isn  't  a 
year  and  a  half,  though  it  seems  a  life-time,  since 
Lucy  and  I,  twelve-year-olders,  were  going  to  school 
in  a  humdrum  way  in  dear,  old,  noisy  New  York. 
How  would  our  old  playmates  feel  if  they  were 
stuffed  as  full  of  adventures  and  strange  sights  as 
we  are  now?  Fortunate  we  are,  and  no  mistake!" 

As  Joe  finished  the  sentence  his  sister  came  danc- 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

ing  into  the  room.  Her  pretty  face  was  aglow  with 
happiness. 

4  'Letters  for  every  one  of  us ! "  she  cried.  '  *  Uncle 
Ben  just  handed  me  this  pile.  They  were  waiting 
for  us  in  the  hotel  office  when  we  got  here." 

' '  Hurray !  One  from  Daddy,  and  one  from  Mum- 
mie,"  exclaimed  Joe  excitedly,  as  he  examined  the 
letters  Lucy  handed  him. 

' '  Nothing  better  than  letters  from  the  home  folks 
to  greet  us  in  a  strange  place,  except  the  folks  them- 
selves," said  Mr.  Andrews  cheerily  as  he  followed 
Lucy  into  the  room. 

"Just  listen!"  said  Joe.  He  had  torn  off  one  end 
of  an  envelope  in  wild  haste  and  run  his  eyes  down 
the  page.  "Mummie  says  she  and  Daddie  miss  us 
dreadfully.  But  they  are  both  well  and  trying  to 
make  the  best  of  us  twins  being  far  away.  Daddy 
has  had  such  success  in  the  coffee  business  that  he 
is  more  glad  than  ever  that  he  went  to  Brazil. 

"  'Besides,  if  we  hadn't  come  here,'  Mummie 
goes  on,  'you  and  Lucy  would  never  have  had  a 
chance  to  travel  around  South  America.  And  then, 
if  you  had  not  showed  yourselves  good  travelers, 
perhaps  your  dear  Uncle  Ben  and  Aunt  Nell  might 
not  have  had  courage  to  take  you  with  them  to  the 
Holy  Land  and  on  to  India,  where  this  letter  will 
probably  find  you.'  " 

"Yes,  here  in  Bombay,  at  the  Gateway  of  the 
East!"  Lucy  burst  out,  looking  up  from  a  letter 

[2] 


AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY 

from  her  father  she  had  just  opened.  "  And  Daddie 
says  he  hopes  we  will  see  a  great  deal  here  in  a  very 
short  time  because  the  days  are  long  without  Joe 
and  me  being  round  to  ask  questions." 

"I  say!"  said  Joe  when  the  letters  had  been  read, 
"what  a  dandy  trip  we  had  getting  here!" 

"It  seemed  to  me  after  we  left  Syria  behind  us, 
and  we  were  sailing  down  through  the  Suez  Canal 
and  the  Bed  Sea,  that  I  was  never,  never,  never  so 
hot  in  all  my  life."  Lucy  gasped  even  at  the 
thought. 

"But  when  our  mattresses  had  been  carried  up  on 
deck  we  managed  to  sleep  all  right, ' '  said  Joe.  Boy- 
like,  he  could  suit  himself  to  all  sorts  of  conditions. 

"The  sail  through  the  Arabian  Sea  was  delight- 
ful, even  though  it  was  still  warm,"  said  Mrs.  An- 
drews brightly. 

"And  the  jelly  fish,  Auntie,  weren't  they  lovely?" 
cried  Lucy.  "I  had  never  before  supposed  that  jelly 
fish  could  be  pretty.  Nearly  all  the  last  day  of  the 
voyage  I  watched  them.  Hundreds  were  floating 
about  the  ship  at  one  time.  And  such  colors!  I 
liked  the  big,  pale  blue  ones  fringed  with  a  sort 
of  mermaid-green  the  best." 

"Mermaid-green!"  Joe's  blue  eyes  danced  with 
mischief.  "Did  you  ever  see  a  mermaid,  that  you 
talk  so  glibly  about  them?" 

"I've  seen  'em  painted.  And  they  were  a  shim- 

[3] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

mery,  shiny  pale  green.  So!"  Lucy  laughed  mer- 
rily. 

"As  soon  as  land  came  in  sight,"  resumed  Mrs. 
Andrews,  "I  forgot  everything  else.  I  didn't  look 
for  'India's  coral  strand'  that  we  sing  about,  but 
my  eyes  were  straining  towards  the  mountains  half 
hidden  in  purple  haze,  and  the  city  of  Bombay  close 
to  the  water's  edge,  with  its  factories,  its  towers  and 
temples.  Then,  as  we  sailed  farther  into  the  har- 
bor, I  could  think  only  of  its  beauty.  It  is  said  to 
be  one  of  the  best  harbors  in  the  world.  The  name 
given  to  it,  Bombay,  was  well  chosen  because  it 
means  beautiful  bay." 

"We  must  have  passed  ships  from  almost  every- 
where," said  Joe.  "Chinese  junks,  steamers  from 
England  and  France  and  other  countries  of  Europe, 
as  well  as  from  Africa,  Japan  and " 

"Oh,  Joe,  you  haven't  mentioned  the  United 
States  yet!  I'd  have  said  that  first,"  broke  in  Lucy 
with  an  indignant  toss  of  her  head.  "Why,  my 
heart  seemed  to  jump  into  my  mouth  when  I  caught 
sight  of  the  American  flag  waving  from  the  mast- 
head of  one  of  the  ships." 

"Humph!  Wasn't  I  the  first  to  salute  it?"  cried 
Joe. 

"The  order  of  our  words  doesn't  always  show 
how  we  feel,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews  with  a  merry 
smile.  "I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  are  dearer  to  you,  Joe,  as  to  all  true  Ameri- 

[4] 


AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY 

cans,  than  any  other  flag.  "We  can't  help  it.  They 
stand  for  home  and  all  we  love  best." 

"It  doesn't  seem  as  if  we  were  on  an  island,"  said 
Joe,  ready  to  change  the  subject. 

"In  one  sense,  Bombay  is  not  an  island,"  said 
his  uncle,  "because  a  strong  embankment  now  joins 
it  to  the  mainland.  Over  this  embankment  immense 
trainloads  of  cotton  and  other  goods  are  constantly 
being  brought  here  for  shipment  to  other  parts 
of  the  world." 

"My  head  is  still  in  a  whirl,"  said  Lucy,  throw- 
ing herself  on  a  couch.  '  *  Here  we  are  in  this  quiet 
English  hotel  with  beautiful  gardens  and  fine  build- 
ings around  us,  while  an  hour  ago  as  we  left  the 
steamer,  we  were  in  the  midst  of  the  strangest  mob 
I  ever  dreamed  of. 

"People  of  every  race  on  earth,  it  seemed  to  me, 
were  rushing  about  and  shouting  as  if  they  thought 
all  the  other  folks  were  deaf." 

"Some  of  the  people  were  dressed  in  the  bright- 
est silks  and  satins  and  loaded  with  jewelry,"  put  in 
Joe,  "while  others,  such  as  the  workmen,  or  coolies 
as  I'm  told  to  call  them,  had  only  strips  of  cloth 
about  their  loins.  How  those  coolies  yelled  to  each 
other  as  they  grabbed  the  luggage!  There  were 
English  soldiers,  too,  looking  ever  so  straight  and 
important,  and  the  only  quiet  folks  in  the  crowd." 

"Even  in  the  jam  I  noticed  some  of  the  oddest 
carts  and  wagons  in  among  fine  carriages  and. 

[5] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

autos,"  said  Lucy,  her  bright  blue  eyes  full  of  ex- 
citement. 

"The  sunshine  beating  against  the  sides  of  the 
white-washed  buildings  made  my  eyes  ache,"  said 
Mrs.  Andrews.  "But" — she  spoke  brightly — "as 
soon  as  we  had  been  examined  at  the  Custom  House, 
and  were  on  our  way  here  in  a  comfortable  car- 
riage, I  began  to  enjoy  myself." 

"Did  you  notice  the  big  sheds  we  passed?"  Joe 
asked  eagerly.  "I'm  quite  sure  those  were  buf- 
faloes in  them.  There  were  dark-skinned  men  in 
turbans  taking  care  of  them.  A  group  of  boys  was 
out  in  front  of  one  of  the  sheds  playing  some  game 
I  didn  't  understand. ' ' 

Just  then  a  knock  came  at  the  door,  and  as  Mr. 
Andrews  opened  it  a  pleasant,  brown-eyed  young 
American  stepped  into  the  room. 

"May  I  go  to  lunch  with  you?"  he  asked. 

"Indeed  you  may,  Mr.  Allen,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews 
quickly.  "We  shall  be  very  glad  to  have  your  com- 
pany." 

Afterwards,  when  the  party  had  seated  them- 
selves in  the  big  dining-room,  the  young  man  said 
that  he  had  decided  to  remain  in  Bombay  while  these 
new  friends  saw  the  sights  there. 

"Then,"  said  he,  "we  can  make  the  journey  north 
together,  because  I  understand  you  intend  to  go  al- 
most directly  to  the  Vale  of  Kashmir." 

"That  will  be  bully!"  cried  Joe.    "I'm  ever  so 

[6] 


AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY 

glad  you  made  your  visit  to  Palestine  when  you  did. 
If  you  hadn't,  we  wouldn't  have  got  acquainted  on 
the  steamer." 

At  that  every  one  laughed. 

"As  I  have  told  you,"  said  Mr.  Allen,  "my  father 
and  I  are  both  secretaries  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  La- 
hore, the  capital  of  the  Punjab,  where  you  are  going 
first.  But  we  spend  the  long  summer  vacations  in 
Kashmir.  My  parents  and  my  young  brother  and 
sister  are  already  there." 

"Then,  Joe,  we  can  have  some  playmates  who 
talk  English,"  cried  Lucy  delightedly.  "Uncle  Ben 
says  we  are  to  stay  several  weeks  up  in  Kashmir." 

Mr.  Allen  looked  pleased.  "Bert  and  Jessie  will 
also  be  glad  to  have  playmates  who  so  lately  came 
from  the  United  States,"  he  said.  "They  were  both 
born  here  in  India." 

"The  food  we  have  been  eating  so  far  doesn't 
seem  different  from  what  I've  had  most  of  my  life," 
said  Joe,  suddenly  changing  the  subject.  "Boast 
beef  is  as  common  as — anything. ' ' 

As  he  spoke  the  waiter  set  a  steaming  dish  on  the 
table. 

"Ah!"  cried  Mr.  Andrews  with  boyish  delight, 
as  he  examined  it.  "This  isn't  common.  If  I'm  not 
mistaken,  it  is  pillau.  I've  been  told  it  is  delicious — 
meat  and  rice  seasoned  with  curry,  mixed  together. 
We  must  all  try  it." 

[7] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"It's  hot,"  said  Joe  after  tasting  the  pttlau. 
"And  it  has  a  queer  flavor." 

"That  is  because  of  the  curry,  Joe,"  Mr.  Allen 
smiled.  "You'll  like  it  after  you  have  lived  in  In- 
dia a  little  while." 

"These  are  pickled  carrots,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews, 
tasting  one  which  she  had  just  taken  from  a  dish 
beside  her.  "And  good  too!" 

But  the  twins,  as  usual,  enjoyed  the  dessert  most 
of  all — dainty  cakes  and  sweetmeats,  with  mangoes 
and  oranges. 

When  the  lunch  was  over  it  was  still  too  early  in 
the  afternoon  to  start  out  sight-seeing  because  of  the 
heat.  But  at  four  o'clock  an  automobile  with  a 
young  English  chauffeur  drove  up  in  front  of  the 
hotel  to  take  the  party  around  the  city. 

"We  passed  through  the  English  quarter  on  our 
way  to  the  hotel,"  Joe  told  the  chauffeur  beside 
whom  he  was  sitting.  "But  I'm  wild  to  see  the 
part  of  the  city  where  only  the  natives  live  and 
where  things  are  queer. ' ' 

The  chauffeur  smiled.  "I'm  not  to  take  you  there 
this  afternoon,"  he  said.  "Your  uncle  has  directed 
me  to  drive  to  Malabar  Hill,  where  there  are  beauti- 
ful homes  overlooking  the  sea." 

"Oh-h!"  said  Joe  disappointedly. 

"You  will  find  something  strange  even  on  Mala- 
bar Hill,  Joe,"  said  Mr.  Allen,  who  had  been  listen- 
ing. 

[8] 


"And  then  to-morrow  morning,"  added  Mr.  An- 
drews, "we  will  make  an  early  start  to  see  the  na- 
tive section  at  the  best  time  possible,  after  which 
we  will  take  a  boat  ride  to  one  of  the  strangest 
islands  in  the  world.  Are  you  satisfied  now?" 

"Of  course,  as  I  know  your  plans  are  always 
best,"  said  Joe.  "Only — sometimes  it  is  hard  to 
wait. ' ' 

As  the  boy  spoke  the  beautiful  Arabian  Sea  came 
into  sight. 

"  Oh ! "  sighed  Lucy.  "  Pd  like  to  go  in  swimming 
in  those  waters.  They  look  so  cool  and  refreshing." 

"Maybe  you'd  come  across  a  shark  and  lose  your 
head, ' '  said  her  brother  mischievously. 

"And  maybe  I  wouldn't,"  was  the  laughing  an- 
swer. 

Then,  turning  to  her  aunt,  the  little  girl  ex- 
claimed: "Auntie  dear,  are  you  noticing  the  lovely 
trees  along  the  way?  We  have  passed  both  areca 
and  cocoanut  palms.  I  know  them  from  seeing  such 
trees  in  South  America.  But  there  are  others  that 
are  strange  to  me." 

"The  immense  tree  just  ahead  of  us  is  a  banyan," 
explained  Mr.  Allen.  "You  will  find  many  like  it  in 
your  wanderings.  You  will  notice  a  queer  thing 
about  it — its  branches  have  sent  shoots  down  into 
the  ground." 

"Hm!  More  English  soldiers,"  said  Joe  in  a  low 
tone.  "They  seem  to  be  around  everywhere." 

[9] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"They  need  to  be  here  to  keep  the  country  in  or- 
der," said  Mr.  Allen  quickly.  "If  it  were  not  for 
them  it  would  not  be  safe  for  you  to  travel  about 
India  as  you  intend  doing." 

"But  how  did  India  come  to  be  ruled  by  the  Brit- 
ish?" asked  Lucy. 

"It  was  brought  about  through  some  spices,  I  be- 
lieve." Mr.  Andrews  smiled  mischievously. 

"Spices!"  exclaimed  Joe. 

"Yes,  spices.  A  long  time  ago — it  was  when 
'Good  Queen  Bess'  ruled  over  England — the  Dutch 
people  did  most  of  the  trading  with  India.  They 
brought  spices  from  there  to  Europe  where  they 
were  not  raised. 

"Well,  the  Dutch  traders  charged  a  very  high 
price  for  the  spices. 

"  'It  is  altogether  too  much,'  declared  the  Eng- 
lish. 'We  will  see  what  we  can  do  for  ourselves.' 
Some  of  their  merchants  formed  themselves  into 
the  East  India  Company  and  began  to  trade  with 
the  people  of  India  themselves.  The  trade  grew 
fast.  English  ships  brought  away  many  other 
things  besides  spices  from  India.  More  and  more 
Englishmen  settled  here  at  last  and  brought  the 
whole  country  under  British  rule." 

"So  that  is  why  there  is  an  English  governor- 
general  over  India,"  said  Joe,  thinking  it  out. 
"And  why  there  are  many  English  soldiers  here. 

[10] 


AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY 

If  they  weren't  here,  Indian  princes  would  be  ruling 
instead  of  the  king  of  England." 

" Exactly,"  said  Mr.  Andrews.  "But  while  we 
are  talking  we  have  need  to  keep  our  eyes  open. 
What  lovely  houses  are  half  hidden  behind  the 
trees!" 

''The  grounds  about  all  these  homes  are  just 
beautiful!"  declared  Lucy.  "So  fresh  and  green, 
and  such  lovely  plants !  I  wish  I  could  get  out  and 
pick  some  of  the  flowers  I've  seen." 

'  *  The  June  rains  have  done  good, ' '  explained  Mr. 
Allen.  "They  have  freshened  everything."  As  he 
spoke  he  motioned  towards  a  villa  almost  hidden  in 
a  grove  of  cocoanut  palms. 

"A  rich  Parsee  lives  there,"  he  said.  "He  owns 
large  cotton  mills  here  in  Bombay." 

"Look !  Perhaps  that  is  he  coming  down  the  walk 
now!"  said  Joe.  "And  maybe  that  is  his  son  with 
him.  What  queer  hats  they  have  on — shaped  like 
stove  pipes,  high  and  brimless!  And  their  coats 
are  long  and  straight." 

"Parsee  men  and  boys  always  dress  in  that 
style,"  said  Mr.  Allen. 

Then  he  went  on.  "I  like  the  Parsees  for  many 
reasons.  To  begin  with,  after  coming  to  live  in  In- 
dia they  have  showed  they  are  not  lazy  like  many 
of  the  natives,  while  they  are  generous  and  intelli- 
gent. Many  of  the  Parsees  here  in  Bombay  are 
wealthy  business  men.  But  they  do  not  keep  all 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

their  money  for  themselves.  They  give  much  to  the 
schools  and  hospitals." 

"If  India  hasn't  always  been  their  home,  where 
did  they  come  from?"  asked  Joe. 

"From  Persia.  The  Arabs  drove  them  from  their 
country  and  they  fled  into  India.  Here  they  have 
lived  ever  since,  still  holding  to  their  strange  faith. 
They  worship  the  sun. ' ' 

"The  sun!"  burst  from  the  twins. 

"Yes,  and  fire  is  therefore  sacred  to  them.  If 
you  should  visit  one  of  their  temples  you  would  find 
their  sacred  fire  burning  there.  They  would  tell 
you  they  have  never  let  it  die  out  since  they  brought 
it  from  Persia." 

"Oh-h!"  said  Lucy  suddenly,  with  a  sigh  of  de- 
light. 

A  carriage  drawn  by  a  pair  of  handsome  black 
horses  was  almost  abreast  of  the  car.  In  it,  be- 
sides the  driver,  sat  a  fine-looking  Parsee  gentleman 
and  his  wives,  who  were  most  beautiful  women, 
with  sparkling  black  eyes  and  glossy  black  hair 
lying  smooth  above  their  foreheads. 

"But  their  dress — I  don't  believe  I  ever  saw  such 
beautiful  clothes  and  jewels  on  any  one!"  Lucy  ex- 
claimed as  the  carriage  passed  on.  "Such  brace- 
lets as  I  caught  sight  of!  They  were  studded  with 
diamonds  and  emeralds!  And  the  white  lace  over- 
skirts,  and  the — the — scarfs  that  looked  like  cob- 

[12] 


AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY 

webs  made  out  of  bits  of  the  rainbow  wound  around 
their  heads!    Oh-h!"    Again  Lucy  sighed. 

"Your  eyes  were  pretty  busy  to  see  so  much  in 
a  passing  glance,"  her  aunt  said  with  a  laugh. 
"Here  comes  another  fine  carriage,"  she  went  on. 
"I  wonder  if  this  also  holds  Parsees." 

It  proved  to  be  filled  with  an  English  officer  and 
his  family,  out  like  many  others  for  a  late  after- 
noon ride  along  the  shore. 

"We  are  having  a  fine  time,  Uncle  Ben,  but  I 
haven't  seen  the  strange  sight  you  promised  me," 
said  Joe  a  minute  afterwards  in  a  tone  of  disap- 
pointment. 

"The  ride  isn't  over  yet."  Mr.  Andre ws's  eyes 
twinkled. 

He  had  hardly  finished  speaking  when  the  travel- 
ers saw  large  and  beautiful  gardens  spread  out  be- 
fore them.  In  the  middle  of  the  gardens  stood  five 
low  towers.  Near  these  were  groves  of  palm  trees 
and  some  big  banyans,  among  whose  branches  many 
ugly  black  birds  were  perched.  Not  a  sound  could 
be  heard  in  any  direction. 

"Vultures !  How  I  hate  them!"  Joe  muttered,  as 
the  travelers  reached  the  gate,  where  a  Parsee,  in 
a  long  white  robe  and  hat  shaped  like  a  helmet,  met 
them. 

Lucy  shivered,  though  she  could  not  have  told 
why,  as  she  looked  from  the  towers  towards  the  trees 
where  the  vultures  were  resting. 

[13] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

The  Parsee,  explaining  in  English  that  he  would 
show  the  visitors  as  much  as  they  would  be  allowed 
to  see,  led  the  way  into  the  gardens. 

"Before  us/'  Mr.  Allen  explained  to  the  twins, 
"are  the  Towers  of  Silence,  and  over  yonder  are 
the  vultures  waiting  for  dead  bodies  of  Parsees  to 
be  laid  on  the  iron  gratings  which  you  can  see  near 
the  tops  of  the  buildings.  In  a  little  while — per- 
haps two  hours — after  the  bodies  are  placed  there, 
they  will  have  been  devoured  by  the  greedy  vul- 
tures." 

"What  a  dreadful  idea!"  said  Lucy.  Again  she 
shivered. 

"It  seems  all  the  worse  to  you  because  of  its 
strangeness,"  said  Mr.  Allen  gently.  "But  to  the 
Parsees  the  earth  is  sacred,  so  their  dead  must  not 
be  buried  in  it.  Neither  must  the  bodies  be  given 
to  the  ocean  because  water  is  too  pure  to  re- 
ceive them;  nor  to  the  fire,  which  they  worship. 
They  see  no  other  way  of  disposing  of  their  dead, 
therefore,  than  the  one  they  have  chosen." 

"If  we  stay  a  while,  maybe  we  can  see  the  vul- 
tures at  their  work,"  said  Joe,  quite  ready  for  any 
new  sight,  even  though  unpleasant. 

"No,  no!"  cried  Lucy.  "Let's  go  back  to  the 
city." 

"I,  too,  am  quite  ready  to  start,"  said  Mrs.  An- 
drews, putting  her  arm  around  her  little  niece. 

[14] 


AT  INDIA'S  GATEWAY 

"After  this  I  would  welcome  Charlie  Chaplin  in 
a  moving  picture  show,"  she  added. 

At  this  no  one  could  help  smiling,  even  though 
fierce-eyed  vultures  were  watching  and  the  Towers 
of  Silence  were  close  at  hand. 


[15] 


CHAPTER  II 

OTHEE  STKANGE  SIGHTS. 

EVERYTHING  is  different  enough  now  to  suit 
any  one."  Joe's  blue  eyes  were  dancing 
merrily. 

"Even  the  noises  are  different.  I  think  the  sound 
of  gongs  we've  been  hearing  must  come  from  Hindu 
temples  near  by,"  said  Lucy.  "Such  queer-looking 
people  are  all  about  us,  I  want  to  keep  close  to  Uncle 
Ben  every  minute." 

"Here  I  am,  little  girl,"  said  Mr.  Andrews,  who 
had  stepped  behind  the  twins  for  a  moment  to  speak 
with  his  wife  and  Mr.  Allen.  "Well,"  he  went  on, 
"what  do  you  think  of  Indian  bazaars?" 

"1  think  they  are  great!"  said  Joe.  "To  begin 
with,  it  seems  as  if  folks  from  all  over  Asia  were 
out  shopping  this  morning.  I've  seen  Japanese  and 
Chinese  and  Arabs — I  think  they  are  Arabs — and 
Turks  and  English,  besides  the  dark-skinned  In- 
dians. I  wish  I  knew  what  they  all  talk  about,  but 
not  a  word  can  I  understand.  It's  a  perfect  Babel. " 

"The  bright  colors  of  their  clothes  attract  me 
most,"  said  Lucy.  "They  are  just  gorgeous — red 
and  yellow,  purple  and  green  and  pink,  with  plenty 

,[17] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

of  white  thrown  in  to  mix  with  all  the  different 
shades  and  tints.  This  beats  South  America,  though 
in  some  places  there  I  almost  thought  in  color." 
Lucy  laughed,  showing  her  dimples  so  prettily  that 
her  uncle  felt  like  kissing  them  that  minute. 

"Bombay's  bazaars  are  a  good  deal  like  those  of 
Jerusalem,"  said  Joe.  ''It's  because  each  bazaar 
has  a  narrow  little  street  all  to  itself.  '  *  In  this  one 
where  we  are  now  there  is  cloth  of  different  kinds 
for  sale,  while  in  the  one  we  just  left  there  were 
piles  and  piles  of  grain — wheat,  millet,  lentils,  bar- 
ley, potatoes  and  so  on. 

"  There  were  ever  so  many  Hindus  in  that  bazaar 
— more  than  in  any  other,  I  think,"  observed  Mrs. 
Andrews. 

1  'The  Hindus  eat  no  meat,  but  live  largely  on 
grain,"  explained  Mr.  Allen.  "So  they  buy  a  great 
deal  of  it." 

"I'd  like  to  go  back  to  the  fruit  bazaar,"  said 
Lucy.  "The  oranges  and  mangoes  and  guavas 
looked  so  tempting." 

"It's  a  pity  that  some  of  the  rare  and  beautiful 
things  for  sale  aren't  kept  in  better  places,"  said 
Joe.  "Just  look  around!  Many  of  the  shops  are 
mud  huts,  and  others  are  holes  in  the  wall. ' ' 

"I  like  to  watch  the  shop-keepers."  As  Lucy 
spoke  she  looked  towards  a  tall  Hindu  in  white  trou- 
sers and  long  purple  shirt  squatting  on  his  heels 
beside  his  goods.  He  was  making  a  bargain  with  a 

[18] 


OTHER  STRANGE  SIGHTS 

customer  over  some  delicate  gold-embroidered  mus- 
lin. His  head,  with  its  big  white  turban,  scarcely 
moved  as  he  talked. 

"Did  you  notice,"  Joe  whispered  to  his  sister, 
"that  when  the  trade  began  in  earnest  he  took  his 
funny  long  pipe  from  his  mouth  and  offered  it  to 
his  customer  to  smoke?" 

Lucy  nodded.  "But  Mr.  Allen  just  told  me  they 
may  be  an  hour  or  two  agreeing  on  a  price,"  she 
said. 

The  party  now  left  the  cloth  bazaar  and  entered 
another  one  filled  with  sweetmeats.  Of  course,  there 
were  many  children  there.  One  little  Hindu  girl 
with  silver  anklets  above  her  bare  feet,  but  with  no 
clothing  except  a  scarf  wound  about  her  body,  stood 
close  to  one  of  the  little  stands,  looking  at  the 
sweeties  with  longing  eyes. 

'  '  Poor  little  thing !  I  'm  going  to  give  her  a  coin, ' ' 
Lucy  whispered  to  Joe. 

The  next  minute  she  had  put  the  coin  in  the  hand 
of  the  little  Hindu,  who  looked  up  with  a  smile  in 
her  dark  eyes  and  touching  her  forehead  with  her 
hand,  made  a  deep  bow  to  the  rosy-cheeked  American 
girl. 

"That's  what  they  call  a  salaam,"  said  Joe  in  a 
low  tone.  "  I  Ve  learned  that  already,  Lucy,  and  also 
that  we  will  receive  many  a  salaam  while  we  are  in 
India." 

The  twins  stood  watching  as  the  shopman  gave 

[19] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

the  little  Hindu  some  sticky  candy,  and  she  wrapped 
it  up  in  a  big  leaf  she  had  had  in  her  hand  all  the 
time  and  ran  off. 

"  Nearly  every  one,  I  notice,  brings  something  to 
hold  what  he  buys,"  said  Joe.  "In  the  grain  ba- 
zaar I  saw  people  carrying  off  their  purchases  in 
bags  or  cloths  they  had  with  them. ' ' 

"I'd  like  to  buy  some  of  this  candy,"  said  Lucy, 
"but  I  have  no  bag.  Oh,  I  know  what  to  do.  We 
can  use  our  handkerchiefs.  Mine  is  clean. ' ' 

"And  mine!"  said  Joe.  "Aunt  Nell,  you  don't 
care,  do  you?"  he  asked,  turning  to  Mrs.  Andrews, 
who  stood  near. 

"Not  for  this  once,"  said  his  aunt,  smiling.  "In 
fact,  I'd  like  to  taste  some  of  these  sweeties  myself." 

"And  I  too,"  declared  Mr.  Andrews  with  a  boy- 
ish laugh. 

The  next  minute  our  travelers  were  merrily  eat- 
ing the  Indian  candies,  which  they  all  agreed  were 
very  sweet  and  rich. 

Shortly  afterwards  they  left  the  bazaar  and  made 
their  way  to  the  main  street,  at  a  corner  of  which 
they  found  themselves  in  a  crowd  of  people  gathered 
about  a  strange  sight.  For  there  before  them 
squatted  a  Hindu  playing  upon  a  reed  pipe.  As  he 
played  two  huge  snakes  crawled  out  of  the  basket  at 
his  side  and  began  to  twist  and  turn  in  time  to  the 
player's  weird  music. 

[20] 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  ff.  Y. 

"THERE    BEFORE    THEM    SQUATTED    A    HINDU    PLAYING    UPON    A    REED 

PIPE."— Page  20 


OTHER  STRANGE  SIGHTS 

"Ugh!"  said  Lucy  under  her  breath,  drawing 
back. 

At  that  moment  one  of  the  snakes  started  to  wind 
himself  around  the  man's  right  arm.  The  second 
snake  immediately  began  to  coil  about  the  man's 
left  arm.  The  fiery  eyes  of  both  serpents  were  fas- 
tened upon  those  of  their  master. 

Joe's  face  beamed  with  delight.  "It's  wonder- 
ful!" he  declared  as  he  turned  away  at  last.  "I 
wish  I  knew  that  man's  tricks.  It  must  be  great 
sport  to  be  a  snake  charmer." 

"What  a  clumsy  wagon,  and  what  patient-looking 
beasties  are  drawing  it!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Andrews 
as  the  travelers  turned  away  and  walked  on. 

"That  is  a  bullock  cart,"  said  Mr.  Allen.  "Per- 
haps the  people  inside  have  ridden  from  the  country 
many  miles  away." 

"Then  they  must  be  tired,"  said  Joe,  "because 
the  cart  has  no  springs  and  the  big  wooden  wheels 
are  so  heavy.  How  they  creak ! ' ' 

"I  don't  believe  they  are  ever  greased."  Mr. 
Allen  smiled  as  he  spoke. 

"I  never  saw  bullocks  like  these,"  said  Lucy. 
"They  have  such  funny  little  bumps  on  their  backs. 
Their  long  horns  look  wicked,  but  their  eyes  are 
kind.  Poor  things!  The  cart  has  a  nice  roof  with 
red  curtains  to  keep  off  the  sun  from  the  driver's 
eyes,  but  it  must  beat  down  hard  on  the  bullocks." 

[21] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"You  must  not  miss  this  sight,"  Mr.  Allen  said 
suddenly. 

He  had  just  discovered  that  some  of  the  passers- 
by  were  gathering  around  a  turbaned  Hindu  with  a 
small  mat  in  his  hand.  The  man  wore  no  clothes 
except  a  cloth  about  his  loins. 

"That  is  a  juggler,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,"  Mr. 
Allen  went  on.  "Let  us  stop  and  see  what  he  has 
to  show  us." 

The  next  minute  the  travelers  had  joined  the  circle 
about  the  juggler  who  was  squatting  on  his  heels 
and  holding  up  the  cloth  in  one  hand  and  three  seeds 
in  the  other. 

"He  is  showing  that  he  has  nothing  except  that 
cloth  and  the  seeds,"  Mr.  Allen  explained  in  a  low 
tone.  '  *  Now  watch. ' ' 

The  twins '  eyes  were  wide  open,  you  may  be  sure, 
as  they  stared  at  the  juggler  and  what  he  was  doing. 
First  he  scratched  some  dirt  loose  in  the  ground  in 
front  of  him.  In  this  he  buried  the  three  seeds  and 
covered  the  spot  with  the  mat. 

"Behold!"  he  said  a  minute  afterwards. 

Thereupon  he  lifted  the  mat.  Lo!  Out  of  the 
earth  a  plant  was  reaching.  It  was  tiny  at  first,  but 
kept  growing  larger  and  taller  before  the  sight  of 
the  onlookers.  And  now  buds  appeared  upon  the 
plant;  these  opened  out  into  blossoms,  and  the  blos- 
soms in  turn  changed  into  fruit. 

[22] 


OTHER  STRANGE  SIGHTS 

"Gee  whiz!"  burst  out  Joe,  unable  to  keep  back 
his  astonishment. 

The  juggler  must  have  heard  him,  because  he  now 
turned  his  keen  black  eyes  directly  towards  the  boy 
and  smiled  a  little.  Then,  as  he  spread  out  the  mat 
on  the  ground,  many  of  the  crowd  went  on  their 
way,  knowing  this  was  the  juggler 's  sign  that  he  was 
ready  to  receive  money  for  his  show,  and  they  had 
none  to  give. 

Mr.  Andrews,  however,  handed  a  coin  to  the  man 
and  he  made  a  salaam  to  him. 

"Whew!  But  that  was  great.  It  beats  me  how 
any  plant  could  grow  so  fast,"  said  Joe  as  our 
travelers  turned  to  go. 

"I  can't  explain  it,"  said  his  uncle.  "It  does  not 
seem  possible  that  the  man  deceived  us  and  only 
made  us  think  we  saw  the  plant  grow  and  the  fruit 
appear." 

"It  was  wonderful,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews. 

Mr.  Allen  smiled.  "I  have  seen  many  such 
sights  in  my  life  in  India,"  he  said.  "And  you 
probably  will  see  more  than  this  before  you  bid  the 
country  good-by. ' ' 

"Suppose,"  he  added,  looking  at  his  watch,  "we 
seek  lunch  at  once.  If  we  do  not  spend  too  long  a 
time  in  eating  we  could  go  in  a  bunder-boat  to  Ele- 
phanta  instead  of  taking  a  steamer.  You  would  all 
enjoy  the  sail,  I'm  sure." 

Thus  it  came  about  that  an  hour  afterwards  the. 

[23] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

party  had  boarded  a  long,  narrow  bark  with  a 
pointed  white  sail.  Dark-skinned  men,  wearing  only 
loin  cloths,  worked  the  boat  and  cried  to  each  other 
with  shrill  voices  as  they  moved  about. 

"It  was  a  lovely  sail,"  Lucy  told  her  brother  as 
they  landed  on  the  shores  of  Elephanta,  the  island 
of  strange  temples. 

"And  this  is  a  lovely  island,"  said  Joe,  taking  his 
sister's  arm  to  help  her  up  the  long  flight  of  steps 
cut  out  of  the  rocks  and  leading  up  to  the  temples. 

"What  beautiful  bamboos  and  banyans  to  give 
us  shade  on  our  way, ' '  he  added. 

"And  the  flowers,  Joe!  They  are  everywhere — 
even  on  the  vines  clinging  to  the  trees, ' '  Lucy  man- 
aged to  say,  though  she  had  begun  to  gasp  from  the 
steady  climb. 

"We're  the  last  ones!"  Joe  cried  suddenly, 
* '  There 's  Uncle  Ben  at  the  top  already.  He 's  laugh- 
ing because  he  beat  us." 

As  the  twins  mounted  the  last  step  the  boy  was 
ready  with  a  question. 

"Why  was  this  island  named  Elephanta?"  he 
called  to  Mr.  Allen.  "Was  it  once  the  home  of  ele- 
phants 1 ' ' 

"I  have  never  heard  so,"  was  the  smiling  answer. 
"Once  upon  a  time,  however,  a  huge  elephant  carved 
out  of  stone  stood  on  the  shore  here.  Why  the 
people  of  the  long-ago  made  it  I  really  don't  know. 
Perhaps  it  was  because  the  elephant  was  their  sym- 

[24] 


OTHER  STRANGE  SIGHTS 

bol  of  wisdom.  But  now  let  us  enter  the  temple  be- 
fore us.  It  is  the  largest  one  on  the  island." 

"How  patiently  men  must  have  worked  to  do  what 
has  been  done  here !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Andrews  as  the 
party  found  themselves  inside  an  immense  hall  dug 
out  of  solid  rock. 

"The  tall  stone  columns  seem  almost  too  slender 
to  hold  up  the  weight  of  earth  and  rock  overhead, " 
said  Mrs.  Andrews  timidly. 

"They  have  borne  their  burden  for  many  hun- 
dreds of  years,"  said  Mr.  Allen  merrily.  "So  I 
guess  there  is  no  danger." 

"Christopher!  This  would  be  a  great  place  to 
play  hide-and-seek  in!"  Joe  said  to  his  sister  as  the 
two  wandered  about. 

"This  dim  light  is  fine  for  hiding,"  the  boy  went 
on.  "Hm!  Suppose,  Lucy,  you  were  here  all  alone 
at  night.  Wouldn't  you  expect  to  meet  a  ghost?" 

"There  aren't  such  things  as  ghosts,"  said  Lucy, 
with  a  toss  of  her  head.  ' '  So,  twin  dear,  you  can 't 
scare  me  that  way. ' ' 

Just  then  Mr.  Allen  called,  "Come  and  see  what 
we  are  looking  at." 

As  the  twins  hurried  to  join  their  elders  they 
found  their  uncle  and  aunt  gazing  in  wonder  at  im- 
mense figures  of  old  Indian  gods  carved  in  the  rock 
walls  of  the  temple. 

1 '  Ah,  I  had  forgotten  this  was  here ! ' '  said  Mr.  Al- 
len as  the  party  reached  a  dark  corner  of  the  cave, 

[25] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

He  pointed  to  the  figure  of  a  woman  with  an  ele- 
phant 's  head  standing  out  from  the  wall.  "It  rep- 
resents an  old  Indian  goddess,  I  suppose. " 

After  the  travelers  had  visited  the  inner  sanc- 
tuary, where  there  were  other  statues,  they  left  the 
temple  and  went  out  into  the  daylight  again. 

"How  warm  it  is  out  here  compared  with  the  cool 
air  inside ! ' '  said  Joe. 

"I  think  I  like  the  sunlight  best  though,"  said 
Lucy  slowly.  "The  temple  was  wonderful,  but  it 
made  me  feel  sort  of  creepy." 

"You  will  like  the  next  temple  better,  then,"  said 
Mr.  Allen.  "It  is  smaller  and  has  windows  through 
which  the  light  enters  freely." 

"Besides,  Lucy,  it  is  guarded,"  laughed  Joe.  He 
pointed  to  two  stone  lions  standing  before  the  en- 
trance. 

"The  island  is  charming,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews 
when  the  travelers  had  left  the  temples  behind  them 
and  started  for  the  shore.  *  *  See !  There  is  beauty 
all  about  us — blossoming  vines,  magnificent  trees, 
flowers " 

"And  native  children,"  Joe  broke  in  as  a  dozen 
or  more  dark-skinned  boys,  almost  naked,  came  run- 
ing  up  to  the  travelers,  shouting  and  holding  out 
curios  of  the  island  which  they  wanted  to  sell. 

One  little  fellow  put  two  rings  with  green  stone 
beetles  mounted  on  them  in  Lucy's  hand,  looking  at 

[26] 


OTHER  STRANGE  SIGHTS 

her  with  big,  begging  eyes.  Another  one  held  out  an 
odd  bird's  nest  to  Joe,  shaped  like  a  pocket. 

"We  can't  refuse  them,"  said  Mr.  Andrews.  So 
he  bought  a  ring  for  Lucy  and  one  for  his  wife,  and 
a  bird's  nest  for  Joe. 

Soon  afterwards  the  party  was  on  its  way  back 
to  Bombay  with  the  light  of  the  fast-setting  sun 
making  the  water  below  a  wonder  of  beauty. 

Afterwards,  as  they  were  riding  back  to  the  hotel 
in  a  street-car,  Mr.  Allen  said  to  the  twins :  *  *  There 
is  one  place  just  outside  of  Bombay  I  think  you 
would  like  to  visit.  But  as  we  leave  the  city  to- 
morrow morning  you  won't  have  a  chance." 

1  'What  is  it?"  asked  Joe  eagerly. 

"A  strange  kind  of  hospital  such  as  you  never 
heard  of  before — not  a  single  sick  person  in  it." 

"Then  what  is  it  used  for?"  Lucy  looked  de- 
cidedly puzzled. 

For  old  and  lame  and  sick  dumb  creatures — dogs, 
cats,  parrots,  monkeys — any  animals,  indeed,  that 
can  no  longer  look  after  themselves." 

"How  fine!"  Lucy's  face  was  aglow.  "Why, 
how  did  the  people  of  Bombay  come  to  think  of  such 
a  thing?" 

' '  The  hospital  was  built  by  Jains,  who  are  a  sect 
of  the  Hindus.  They  believe  it  is  wrong  to  kill  any 
living  creature." 

"Not  kill  even  a  mosquito!"  exclaimed  Joe. 

"Not  even  a  mosquito."  Mr.  Allen  smiled  at 

[27] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

Joe's  earnestness.  "These  Jains  even  dust  every 
place  where  they  are  about  to  sit  because  they  are 
fearful  that  they  might  crush  out  the  life  of  an  ant 
or  some  other  small  insect. ' ' 

"How  funny!"  Joe's  eyes  danced  as  he  went  on, 
"I  guess  the  Jains  have  never  looked  at  water  un- 
der a  microscope  and  seen  the  countless  lives  swarm- 
ing there.  If  they  did,  the  poor  folks  would  have 
to  die  of  thirst.  But  say,  did  you  ever  go  to  that 
queer  hospital,  Mr.  Allen  f ' ' 

1 '  Once.  To  get  there  I  walked  through  an  avenue 
of  beautiful  tamarind  trees,  with  hedges  on  each  side 
of  me  full  of  lovely  blossoms. 

"Then  I  came  to  a  large  garden  in  which  stood  a 
a  number  of  sheds  and  small  buildings.  In  one  of 
the  sheds  I  remember  seeing  a  sick  buffalo.  In  an- 
other was  a  sick  horse  with  men  on  each  side  of  him 
fanning  away  the  flies. 

"After  that  I  looked  on  lame  dogs,  chickens  and 
parrots.  All  were  being  cared  for  in  the  most  ten- 
der way." 

"I'm  beginning  to  think  India  is  the  strangest 
country  in  the  world,"  said  Lucy. 

Just  then  her  uncle  signed  to  her  that  it  was  time 
to  leave  the  car,  as  the  hotel  where  the  travelers 
were  stopping  was  close  at  hand. 


[28] 


CHAPTER  III 

ON  THE  WAY  NOBTH 

AEE  you  homesick,  little  girl?" 
"Indeed  not,  Auntie  dear,"  Lucy  answered 
quickly.  "Of  course,  I'd  like  to  see  Daddie  and 
Mummie,  but  I'm  having  the  most  wonderful  time, 
and  everything  is  so  interesting  I  hate  to  sleep  for 
fear  of  missing  something." 

"But  suppose,  while  Joe  and  your  uncle  are  away, 
you  write  a  letter,"  suggested  Mrs.  Andrews.  "I 
am  tired  from  the  long,  hot  journey,  so  I'll  have  a 
nap  while  you  are  writing." 

"That's  a  good  idea,"  said  Lucy  brightly.  "I 
haven't  written  the  folks  a  good  letter  since  we 
landed  in  India.  So,  while  you  are  napping,  I'll  be 
talking  on  paper." 

As  her  aunt  left  her  Lucy  set  to  work  at  once  on 
the  letter. 

"Dear  Daddie  and  Mummie,"  she  wrote.  "I 
know  you  will  forgive  the  stingy  notes  I've  sent  you 
these  last  two  weeks,  but  you'll  surely  understand 
when  I  explain  how  busy  we  have  been. 

"But  now  to  come  back  to   the  journey.     We 

[29] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

boarded  our  train  in  Bombay's  handsome  railway 
station  that  is  called  one  of  the  finest  in  the  world. 
It  was  crowded  with  people  of  different  races,  all  of 
whom  seemed  to  be  shouting  and  gesticulating  at 
once. 

"Mr.  Allen — his  first  name  is  George — was  with 
us.  So  was  Nanko,  a  young  Hindu  whom  Uncle  Ben 
has  hired  to  guide  us  around  India. 

"During  the  whole  journey  the  heat  was  dreadful. 
Mummie  dear,  if  you  had  been  with  us,  you  would 
have  kept  gasping  all  those  two  days  and  nights. 

"Well,  as  Aunt  Nell  says,  we  have  'lived  to  tell 
the  tale,'  and  now,  though  Lahore  is  a  hot  city,  we 
are  comfortable  in  this  hotel,  with  its  big  rooms  and 
high  ceilings. 

"The  trains  here  in  India  are  the  funniest  ever! 
There  are  benches  along  the  sides  where  folks  sit 
and  sleep.  Yes,  sleep,  because  there  are  no  lovely 
berths  where  you  lie  down  at  night  and  wake  up  in 
the  morning  as  rested  as  if  you  had  been  in  your  own 
bed.  You  simply  stretch  out  your  rugs  on  the 
bench,  curl  up  in  them,  and  make  the  best  of  it  all 
night.  Joe  says  it  is  great  sport.  But  that  is  be- 
cause he  is  a  boy. 

"We  saw  many  queer  people  on  the  trains,  and 
at  the  stations  where  we  stopped  on  the  way.  I 
couldn't  begin  to  tell  you  how  all  these  folks  dress 
because  there  are  so  many  different  kinds  of  dress 
in  India.  The  Parsees  have  one  style,  the  Hindus 

[30] 


ON  THE  WAY  NORTH 

another,  the  Mohammedans  another,  and  the  Sikhs, 
who  are  more  common  up  here  in  Northern  India, 
have  another  way. 

"In  the  compartment  with  us  was  a  dear  little 
Mohammedan  girl,  with  her  mother  beside  her.  She 
wore  the  prettiest  pink  muslin  scarf  as  delicate  as  a 
cobweb  wound  about  her  head  and  shoulders,  white 
trousers,  and  a  long  loose  black  blouse  embroidered 
in  gold  thread.  Her  feet  were  bare!  I  guess  her 
folks  are  rich,  because  she  was  riding  in  a  first-class 
compartment,  and  also  because  of  the  gold  embroid- 
ery and  her  jeweled  rings  and  bracelets. 

"After  a  while  I  got  her  to  smile  at  me,  but  she 
seemed  very  shy  at  first.  We  couldn't  talk  together 
because  we  didn't  know  each  other's  language. 

"I  couldn't  get  a  good  look  at  her  mother  because 
she  was  so  much  covered.  Like  all  Mohammedan  and 
Hindu  women  of  high  class  when  outside  their  own 
homes,  she  wore  a  long  white  garment  that  reached 
from  her  head  nearly  to  her  feet.  There  was  a  head- 
covering,  too,  with  a  flat  piece  on  top.  A  sort  of 
curtain  hung  down  from  it  around  the  head,  with  a 
narrow  strip  of  open-work  embroidery  across  the 
eyes.  Keally,  you  can't  think  how  'spooky'  the 
woman  looked  with  her  dark  eyes  flashing  through 
the  embroidery. 

"  Uncle  Ben  got  out  with  Joe  and  me  at  one  of  the 
way-stations  to  look  around.  We  saw  some  low 
caste  Hindu  men  leaving  a  third-class  car.  They 

[31] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

wore  no  clothing  except  their  turbans  and  strips  of 
cloth  wound  about  their  loins.  Probably  there  is 
more  than  enough  cloth  in  a  single  turban  such  as 
I've  seen  in  India  to  make  a  suit  of  clothes. 

I  'I  spoke  of  the  men  as  of  low  caste.    It  seems 
that  the  Hindus  are   divided   into   four   principal 
castes,  or  classes — the  priests,  the  soldiers,  the  in- 
dustrial workers  and  the  servants. 

II  Before  I  stop  I  must  tell  you  about  a  peek  I  had 
into  one  of  the  freight  cars  of  our  train.    What  do 
you  suppose  I  saw  there?    You  can  never  guess,  so- 
I'll  tell  you.    It  was  a  baby  elephant — the  dearest, 
sweetest  little  thing,  with  wise  eyes    and,    oh,    so 
gentle!     He  had  probably  been    taken    from    his 
mother  and  was  going  to  the  home  of  some  native 
prince  to  be  trained  for  his  use. 

"And  yes!  I  saw  a  big  cage  full  of  monkeys, 
and  another  of  guinea  pigs.  I  wondered  if  they 
were  going  to  be  sold  in  some  city  for  children's 
pets. 

"As  we  journeyed  northward  we  sometimes 
passed  by  villages  of  mud  huts,  with  thatched  roofs, 
on  the  borders  of  grain  fields.  Nearly  naked  chil- 
dren, some  of  them  almost  as  black  as  negroes,  were 
playing  about  or  helping  their  parents  in  the  fields. 

"Mr.  Allen  told  Joe  and  me  that  millions  of  people 
in  India  live  in  huts  like  those  we  passed.  A  few 
cents  is  like  a  fortune  to  them.  They  have  few 
clothes  and  hardly  any  furniture  in  their  poor  little 

[32] 


homes.  They  squat  about  on  grass  mats  when  they 
eat  their  dinner,  which  may  be  only  a  dish  of  cooked 
millet  served  on  a  big  leaf,  or  perhaps  some  mangoes 
or  guavas  picked  from  the  trees  planted  nearby.  Of 
course,  these  people  can't  save  up  any  money. 

"  And,  Daddie,  just  listen  to  this :  Sometimes  the 
rains  don't  fall  when  they  should  and  the  crops  dry 
up.  And  then  the  poor  Indian  children  starve  to 
death — thousands  of  them — because  there  is  no 
money  to  buy  food. 

"They  have  other  troubles  too — panthers  and 
tigers  creep  out  from  the  jungles  and  kill  them  right 
there  in  their  villages.  Isn't  it  terrible? 

"The  queerest  cart  you  ever  heard  of  was  stand- 
ing near  one  of  the  stations  where  we  stopped.  It 
had  four  clumsy  wheels,  and  the  top  was  a  big  hood 
of  straw.  It  was  crammed  full  of  people  who  were 
sticking  their  heads  out  wherever  they  could  and 
jabbering  at  the  tops  of  their  lungs. 

' '  *  They  are  probably  scolding  the  driver  for  stop- 
ping,' said  Joe. 

"But,  poor  man,  he  couldn't  help  it,  I  guess,  for 
the  two  camels — yes,  camels — which  were  hitched  to 
the  cart  had  probably  decided  they  wanted  to  take  a 
rest.  Oh,  how  cross  and  stubborn  they  looked ! 

"Well,  just  as  our  train  started  off,  the  camels 
seemed  to  make  up  their  minds  to  move  too.  So  the 
last  we  saw  of  them  they  were  slowly  plodding  along, 

[33] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

and  most  of  the  people's  heads  were  drawn  inside 
the  hood  of  the  cart. 

''What  a  long  letter  I  have  written!  My  hand  is 
tired  so  I  must  stop. 

"With  heaps  of  love,  LUCY." 

"P.  S. — Joe  says  I'm  not  so  much  of  a  'fraid  cat 
as  I  used  to  be." 

"Did  I  say  that?"  cried  a  teasing  voice  behind  the 
little  girl.  Joe  had  stolen  into  the  room  to  take  his 
sister  by  surprise,  and,  unknown  to  her,  had  stood 
looking  over  her  shoulder  while  she  was  ending  the 
letter. 

"Well,  I  won't  stop  to  talk  it  over  now  because  I 
have  so  much  to  tell  you,"  the  boy  went  on.  "It's 
terribly  hot  getting  around  the  city,  but  I've  had  a 
bully  time." 

As  Joe  spoke  he  wiped  off  the  perspiration  with 
which  his  face  was  covered. 

"What  did  you  see!"  Lucy's  face  was  all  eager- 
ness. 

"We  went  out  to  the  cantonment,  for  one  thing, 
and  saw  the  soldiers  go  through  a  drill.  Then  we 
rode  past  ever  so  many  fine  buildings — churches, 
business  blocks  and  so  on." 

"I  don't  care  anything  about  them — I  can  see 
plenty  of  them  in  New  York, ' '  Lucy  put  in. 

"But  not  beautiful  mosques  1"  cried  Joe.  "One 

[34] 


ON  THE  WAY  NORTH 

of  those  I  saw  this  morning  is  a  peach.  It  is  called 
the  Golden  Mosque.  It  has  three  domes,  each  of 
which  is  shaped  like  a  lotus  blossom.  In  the  bright 
sunlight  this  morning  those  domes  glowed  and 
sparkled  as  if  studded  with  jewels.  It  dazzled  my 
eyes  to  look  at  them." 

"I'll  surely  have  to  see  that  mosque  before  we 
leave  Lahore,"  said  Lucy  positively.  "But  where 
did  you  go  afterwards,  Joe?" 

"To  the  handsome  library  that  was  once  some- 
thing else.  It  has  plenty  of  windows  now,  so  it  does 
very  well  for  a  library." 

"But  what  was  the  something  else?" 

"A  mausoleum,  and  it  was  built  to  hold  the  body 
of  the  Great  Mogul's  most  beautiful  wife.  Her 
name  was  Pomegranite  Blossom.  Her  husband,  Ak- 
bar,  got  jealous  of  her  because  he  caught  her  smiling 
upon  Selim,  his  son  by  another  wife. 

"And  so — and  so" — Joe  was  getting  excited — 
"Akbar  said,  'Pomegranite  Blossom  shall  be  buried 
alive  for  this ! '  And  they  say  she  was,  Lucy — yes, 
actually.  But  afterwards  Selim  had  this  beautiful 
mausoleum  built  to  hold  her  body,  which  is  there  in 
the  library  now  in  a  white  marble  tomb." 

"Poor  Pomegranite  Blossom!"  said  Lucy,  pity- 
ingly. "I'm  so  sorry  she  smiled  that  day  and 
brought  on  herself  such  a  terrible  death. ' ' 

"But,  Joe,"  she  asked  with  the  next  breath,  "who 

[35] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

was  Akbar,  and  why  was  he  called  the  Great  Mo- 
gul?" 

"Uncle  Ben  told  me  a  little  about  him  this  morn- 
ing. But  here  comes  Mr.  Allen.  Let's  ask  him,  be- 
cause he  probably  knows  the  whole  story." 


[36] 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  WONDEBFTJL  DAYS  OP  OLD 

WHAT  can  I  do  for  you?"  said  George  Allen 
as  he  came  into  the  room.  "I  just  heard 
you  mentioning  my  name." 

* '  We  want  to  know  about  Akbar,  and  why  he  was 
called  the  Great  Mogul,"  said  Lucy  promptly. 

"Very  well,  you  shall  hear  what  I  can  tell  you." 
The  young  man  smiled  as  he  settled  himself  in  a 
comfortable  chair.  "To  begin  with,  let  us  travel 
backwards  many  hundreds  of  years  to  the  time  when 
the  Hindus  ruled,  not  over  the  Punjab  alone,  of 
which  Lahore  is  the  capital,  but  all  India.  They 
claim  that  this  country  has  been  their  home  for 
millions  of  years,  though  this  is  doubted. 

"At  any  rate,  they  must  have  lived  here  a  very 
long  time  and  were  once  a  great  and  learned  people. 
Their  sacred  books,  the  Vedas,  show  this.  But  to- 
day most  of  them  are  ignorant,  with  foolish,  harm- 
ful beliefs.  The  greater  part  of  them  cannot  even 
read  or  write,  and  yet  there  are  still  some  among 
the  high  caste  Hindus  who  are  deeply  learned. 
Among  them  are  great  poets  and  men  of  science," 

[37] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"But,  Mr.  Allen,  the  Great  Mogul  wasn't  a  Hindu, 
was  he?"  Joe  looked  puzzled. 

"No,  but  I  have  told  all  this  so  you  can  better  un- 
derstand what  I  am  going  to  tell  you  about  Akbar. 

"Now  then,  suppose  you  and  Lucy  take  a  little 
journey  with  me  to  the  northwest  corner  of  India. 
Do  you  see  that  pass  in  the  mountains'?  It  is  the 
famous  Khyber  Pass  through  which  enemies  of  the 
Hindus  came  pouring  into  the  country  in  the  days 
before  the  English  sailed  to  her  shores. 

"Among  these  invaders  was  Darius,  King  of  Per- 
sia. After  him  came  the  troops  of  Alexander  the 
Great  in  their  shining  armor. 

' '  Next  through  the  Khyber  Pass  came  the  Moguls, 
whose  power  over  India  spread  rapidly.  The  great- 
est of  these  powerful  invaders  was  Akbar,  who  is 
known  to  this  day  as  the  Great  Mogul.  He  began 
to  rule  in  India  when  he  was  only  fourteen  years 
old." 

"Gee !    Not  much  older  than  I,"  Joe  put  in. 

"But  from  the  beginning,"  Mr.  Allen  went  on, 
"he  was  wise  and  powerful.  He  made  just  laws  for 
India.  He  did  away  with  the  warfare  which  had 
been  going  on  between  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try; he  built  fine  tombs  and  grand  palaces.  But 
after  he  died  the  power  of  the  Moguls  gradually 
grew  weaker.  Then  the  English  came  and  have 
ruled  over  the  land  ever  since. 

"I  have  told  this  because  Akbar  lived  in  Lahore 

[38] 


THE  WONDERFUL  DAYS  OF  OLD 

for  many  years,  and  some  of  his  works  can  still  be 
seen  here.  Take  a  peep  into  the  long  ago  at  the 
streets  through  which  you  rode  this  morning,  Joe. 
Let  us  stand  aside  to  watch  the  royal  procession  of 
Akbar  on  its  way  to  the  beautiful  gardens  he  laid 
out  beyond  the  borders  of  the  city.  Thousands  of 
horses  pass  us  with  harnesses  shining  with  gold 
plate  and  sparkling  with  jewels.  Then  come 
rhinoceroses,  lions,  tigers,  leopards  and  panthers  in 
charge  of  their  keepers ;  and  now  we  can  hardly  be- 
lieve our  eyes  because  fifty  thousand  elephants,  all 
gayly  caparisoned,  march  in  stately  fashion  before 
us." 

"The  biggest  circus  parade  I  ever  saw  couldn't 
compare  with  that,"  Joe  burst  out. 

"Akbar  must  have  been  very  rich,"  said  Lucy, 
half  to  herself. 

"So  rich,"  Mr.  Allen  replied,  "that  four  hundred 
pairs  of  scales  were  set  at  work  to  weigh  his  gold 
and  precious  stones,  and  the  work  was  not  finished 
at  the  end  of  five  months." 

"Whew!"  exclaimed  Joe.  "I  can't  imagine  as 
great  wealth  as  that." 

"And  now,  after  what  I  have  told  you,"  the  young 
man  went  on,  "I  think  you  will  greatly  enjoy  the 
ride  we  are  all  going  to  take  towards  sunset  out  to 
the  'House  of  Joy.'  It  isn't  a  house  as  you  might 
think  from  the  name,  but  the  beautiful  gardens  built 
by  Akbar 's  grandson,  Shah  Jehan." 

[39] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"Tell  us,  please,  what  we  shall  see  there,"  begged 
Lucy. 

"To  begin  with,  then,  think  of  eighty  acres  of 
land  in  these  gardens.  We  will  wander  about  in 
them  through  avenues  bordered  by  pomegranate, 
lemon  and  orange  trees. 

"By  and  by  we  shall  come  to  a  wide  canal  lined 
with  marble,  and  will  stop  to  listen  to  the  music  of 
the  cascades  as  they  leap  down  over  one  terrace  af- 
ter another  till  they  reach  a  large  basin.  Here  we 
will  watch  the  play  of  five  hundred  fountains  in  the 
sunlight." 

"Oh-h!"  cried  Lucy,  clapping  her  hands  in  de- 
light. "I  wish  it  were  time  to  start  this  minute." 

As  it  was,  the  period  of  waiting  did  not  drag  for 
the  merry  travelers,  as  with  lunch  and  games  to  fill 
up  the  time,  the  hour  set  for  the  sight-seeing  came 
quickly. 

That  evening  before  they  had  returned  to  the  ho- 
tel the  lively  twins  had  much  to  say  about  the  trip. 

' '  Ekkas  are  great  sport  to  ride  in, ' '  declared  Joe. 
"I'll  have  to  write  to  my  New  York  chums  about 
them.  Just  imagine  me  in  one  of  those  two-wheeled 
carts,  with  the  gaudy  red  top  to  give  shade,  moving 
down  Fifth  Avenue.  Wouldn't  the  folks  stare!  I 
guess  they'd  think  I  had  escaped  from  a  circus." 
The  boy  laughed  till  the  tears  rolled  down  his 
cheeks. 

MJ  watched  the  driver  a  good  deal  of  the  time," 

[40] 


THE  WONDERFUL  DAYS  OF  OLD 

said  Lucy.  "  There  he  was,  perched  on  the  shaft, 
guiding  the  horse  as  best  he  could,  and  probably 
imagining  himself  comfortable." 

"In  our  ride  we  passed  an  ekka  drawn  by  two  bul- 
locks, but  I  guess  you  missed  the  sight,"  said  Mr. 
Andrews.  "The  driver  sat  on  the  tongue  of  the 
cart  between  the  bullocks." 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I  did  notice,"  said  Joe.  "It 
was  a  number  of  tall,  soldierly  looking  men  with 
long  beards.  They  weren't  Hindus,  I'm  sure." 

' '  They  must  have  been  Sikhs, ' '  said  Mr.  Allen  at 
once.  '  *  They  are  noted  for  being  fine  soldiers.  At 
the  time  the  English  took  possession  of  India  the 
Sikhs  ruled  over  this  part  of  it.  They  fought  brave- 
ly against  the  new  comers,  but  when  they  found  they 
must  give  up  they  became  good  friends  of  their  Eng- 
lish conquerers. ' ' 

"I  shall  never  forget  something  I  saw  yesterday. 
Nanko  was  with  me  at  the  time, ' '  said  Mr.  Andrews. 
"We  were  passing  a  Sikh  temple  and  stopped  to 
take  a  peep  inside.  A  queer  sight  met  me.  It  was 
a  priest  sitting  with  the  holy  book  of  his  people 
before  him  and  reading  aloud,  while  another  priest 
kept  fanning  the  book  with  a  huge,  gilt-handled 
feather  fan. ' ' 

"What  strange  things  are  to  be  seen  in  this  coun- 
try!" said  Mrs.  Andrews.  "And  what  beautiful 
ones!"  she  added.  "The  gardens  of  Shah  Jehan, 

[41] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

where  we  lingered  till  darkness  fell  upon  us,  are  a 
dream  of  loveliness." 

''To-morrow  you  will  see  another  beautiful  sight 
which  you  will  never  forget,"  said  Mr.  Allen.  "I 
am  glad  I  can  go  with  you  then  on  the  ride  to  Am- 
ritsar,  the  holy  city  of  the  Sikhs." 

"As  we  are  to  make  an  early  start,  we  had  all 
better  go  to  bed  early, ' '  said  Mrs.  Andrews.  ' '  Then 
we  can  be  sure  of  enjoying  the  thirty-mile  ride  in 
an  auto." 

Bright  and  early  the  next  morning  the  travelers, 
bound  for  Amritsar,  were  spinning  over  fine  roads, 
past  the  ruins  of  grand  palaces  and  temples. 

As  they  neared  the  city  they  passed  many  Sikh 
pilgrims. 

"Those  pilgrims  are  all  traveling  to  the  same 
place,"  Mr.  Allen  explained.  "It  is  the  Pool  of  Im- 
mortality, in  the  middle  of  which,  on  an  island, 
stands  the  famous  Temple  of  Gold.  You  will  find  it 
a  marvelous  sight. ' ' 

Prepared  as  the  twins  were  to  behold  something 
wonderful,  they  were  fairly  taken  back  by  the  beauty 
before  them  when  they  had  reached  the  grounds  sur- 
rounding the  sacred  lake  and  passed  through  the 
gateway. 

The  marble  pavement  beneath  their  feet  was  not 
noticed  as  they  turned  their  eyes  towards  the  Temple 
of  Gold,  all  of  richly  carved  marble,  which  seemed 
to  rise  out  of  the  waters  around  it. 

[42] 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

"THE  POOL  OF   IMMORTALITY,   IN  THE   MIDDLE   OF  WHICH  STANDS  THE 
FAMOUS   TEMPLE    OF   GOLD."— Page  42 


THE  WONDERFUL  DAYS  OF  OLD 

"I'm  dazzled  by  the  beauty,"  whispered  Lucy  to 
her  brother. 

"And  I,"  said  Joe. 

How  could  they  help  it  when  they  tried  to  fix  their 
gaze  on  the  central  roof  of  the  Temple,  which  was 
covered  with  pure  gold?  Now,  in  the  brilliant  sun- 
light, it  was  indeed  a  dazzling  sight. 

At  last,  to  rest  their  eyes,  the  twins  turned  away 
to  notice,  for  the  first  time,  the  marble  palaces  which 
had  been  built  around  the  lake. 

"Those  are  the  homes  of  wealthy  Sikhs,"  said  Mr. 
Allen,  who  had  stepped  up  beside  the  twins.  "They 
live  there, ' '  he  went  on, '  *  so  that  they  may  be  in  con- 
stant sight  of  their  sacred  temple." 

And  now  Joe  and  Lucy  became  interested  in  the 
people  around  them.  Many  of  them  had  come  to 
worship;  others  were  flower  sellers  from  whom 
faithful  Sikhs  were  buying  chains  of  flowers  to  of- 
fer in  the  temple.  Still  others  were  selling  sou- 
venirs of  the  place. 

"I'm  going  to  buy  a  spoon  from  the  man  in  front 
of  us  for  Mummie, ' '  declared  Lucy. 

"I'll  get  one  for  Daddie,"  said  Joe.  "Then  he 
and  Mummie  can  stir  their  coffee  with  curios  from 
Amritsar. ' ' 

After  a  visit  to  the  temple  our  travelers  made 
ready  for  the  ride  back  to  Lahore.  Each  one  had 
much  to  say  about  the  beauties  he  had  seen.  But 
all  laughed  merrily  over  their  being  examined  at 

[43] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

the  entrance  of  the  temple  lest  they  were  bringing 
some  tobacco  into  the  sacred  building. 

"Sikhs  look  upon  tobacco  as  a  'filthy  weed'  in- 
deed," said  Mr.  Allen.  "In  their  eyes,  a  single 
grain  of  it  would  pollute  their  temple  by  its  pres- 
ence. Therefore,  every  stranger  is  carefully  exam- 
ined before  he  enters." 


[44] 


CHAPTER  V 

SAFE  IN  KASHMIR 

SUCH  a  lark  as  Bert  and  I  have  just  had!"  cried 
Joe,  bursting  into  the  big  living-room  of  the 
Aliens'  bungalow.     "See  what  I've  brought  you, 
Aunt  Nell." 

With  that  Joe  piled  his  aunt's  lap  full  of  flowers, 
with  sprays  of  sweet-smelling  thyme  among  them. 

"We've  been  paddling  on  the  river,"  Joe  went  on. 
"And  such  a  sight  as  we  came  to !  It  was  on  a  bank 
where  we  stopped  to  pick  the  flowers.  I'm  glad  you 
didn't  see  it,  Lucy.  You  might  have  cried  out." 

' '  What  was  it  I "  asked  Lucy.    ' '  Do  tell  me. ' ' 

"It  was  a  man  squatting  on  the  ground  under  a 
chenar  tree,  with  one  arm  stretched  upwards.  His 
clothes  were  ragged  and  his  face  was  thin  and 
white.  His  eyes  were  staring  straight  ahead  of  him 
— he  didn't  seem  to  see  us. 

"But  now  for  the  queer  part!  The  man's  hand 
looked  dead  and  his  finger  nails  were  like  claws. 
I  guess  they  were  four  or  five  inches  long.  It  made 
me  shiver  to  look  at  that  man,  and  when  we  had  gone 
back  to  the  boat  and  paddled  away  I  asked  Bert  what 
the  fellow  was  trying  to  do. 

[45] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"  'Oh,  he  is  trying  to  win  special  merit  from  one 
of  his  gods.  Isn't  it  a  pity  he  should  believe  he  can 
do  that  by  punishing  himself?'  Bert  answered. 
'Probably  the  man  has  held  his  arm  in  that  position 
for  weeks — maybe  months.  You  can  tell  that  by  the 
length  of  his  nails.  You'll  see  such  people  all  over 
India.'" 

"But  here,  in  this  Vale  of  Kashmir,  with  all  the 
beauty  God  has  given!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Andrews. 
"How  can  people  have  such  foolish  beliefs?" 

"I  cannot  understand  it  myself,"  said  Mr.  An- 
drews, who  had  followed  Joe  into  the  room.  "But 
where  is  Bert?" 

"He's  gone  to  dress  for  some  calls  he  has  to  make 
with  his  parents  and  Jessie.  They'll  be  gone  a 
couple  of  hours,  I  suppose. ' '  Joe  made  a  long  face. 

"That  will  give  us  a  chance  to  have  a  little  fam- 
ily party  by  ourselves. ' '  Mr.  Andrews  smiled  cheer- 
ily. "I  wonder,"  he  went  on,  "if  you  twins  would 
like  to  hear  the  letter  I  have  just  written  your  father 
and  mother.  "It's  about  our  journey  here  from  La- 
hore." 

"Of  course  we  would,"  said  Joe,  his  face  clear- 
ing. "I'm  ready  to  listen  this  minute." 

"And  I,"  said  Lucy  promptly. 

"And  I,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews.  She  laughed  as  she 
added,  "Though  you  didn't  ask  me." 

"Very  well  then;  we'll  start  off  at  once,"  said  Mr. 
Andrews. 

[46] 


SAFE  IN  KASHMIR 

"Dear  Folks,"  he  began.  " Please  imagine  you 
are  in  our  gay  party  as  we  journey  northward  to- 
wards the  Vale  of  Kashmir,  or  Cashmere,  as  it  is 
sometimes  spelled. 

"Soon  after  leaving  Lahore  our  train  moves  to 
higher  and  higher  ground.  We  look  out  from  the 
car  windows  and  notice  fine  roads  over  which  some 
dark-skinned,  turbaned  men  are  leading  troops  of 
horses,  perhaps  for  the  use  of  the  English  army. 
Still  others  are  guiding  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats. 
And,  yes,  here  is  a  long  train  of  camels  on  its  way 
to  the  home  of  some  Indian  prince. 

"The  air  grows  cooler.  We  catch  sight  of  the 
lofty  Himalaya  mountains,  noisy  waterfalls,  and 
rushing  rivers.  At  last  we  reach  a  station  where 
tongas  are  waiting  to  carry  us  'up  hill  and  down 
dale '  till  we  shall  reach  the  Aliens '  summer  home  in 
Kashmir. 

"Now,  what  is  a  tonga?  It  is  a  two-seated  wagon, 
drawn  by  stout  ponies.  Joe  says  they  are  dandy 
little  beasts  because  they  are  so  spirited. 

"By  the  time  the  ponies  have  drawn  us  five  or 
six  miles  they  are  panting  for  breath.  Poor  little 
beasties !  It  has  been  hard  work  for  them  on  these 
rough  roads  of  a  mountain  pass. 

"A  fresh  start  now,  and  we  travel  a  few  miles 
more.  Another  change  of  ponies!  So  it  goes  till 
eight  hours  have  passed,  when  Nanko  tells  us  we 

[47] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

are  to  stop  at  the  wayside  inn  just  ahead  and  spend 
the  night  there. 

"  'Hurrah!'  cry  the  twins,  and,  'Good'  says  my 
dear  little  wife  who  is  a  sorry  sight,  with  hat  tum- 
bling off  her  head  and  hair  falling  down  about  her 
neck  from  the  many  jolts  she  has  had. 

"Joe  and  Lucy,  whose  cheeks  are  as  flaming  red 
as  the  curtains  of  our  tongas,  laugh  at  their  aunt's 
funny  appearance  as  she  enters  the  bungalow. 

"  'You  look  as  if  a  cyclone  had  struck  you,'  Joe 
tells  her. 

"  'I  feel  as  if  it  had,'  she  declares.  'It  seems  as  if 
every  bone  in  my  body  was  in  the  wrong  place.' 
Then  she  joins  in  the  laugh. 

"Two  other  parties  of  travelers  have  got  here 
ahead  of  us,  but  we  find  there  is  room  for  all.  In- 
deed, six  or  eight  such  parties  could  spend  the  night 
here,  as  the  inn  is  quite  large,  and  one  party  is  ex- 
pected to  get  along  with  one  room,  as  it  holds  two 
bedsteads  and  several  chairs. 

"Lucy  puckers  her  little  forehead  and  cries, 
'There  are  no  bed  clothes!'  She  forgets  that  we 
have  the  rugs  we  used  on  the  trains. 

"Then  Joe  exclaims  with  the  twinkle  quite  gone 
out  of  his  eyes, '  There  is  no  dining-room  in  the  bun- 
galow, and  I'm  starving!' 

"  'Oho,  Joe!'  I  answered.  'You  haven't  noticed 
that  Nanko  is  already  dickering  with  the  landlord 
over  the  price  of  a  chicken  and  some  mutton.  Lis- 

[48] 


SAFE  IN  KASHMIR 

ten  I     I  think  I  hear  a  commotion  in  the  poultry 
yard ! ' 

"Joe  dashes  out  and  comes  back  in  a  minute  with 
a  big  smile.  'I  just  saw  the  landlord  cut  a  hen's 
throat  and  then  dip  her  into  boiling  water, '  he  tells 
us. 

"A  half  hour  later  Nanko  calls  us  to  the  picnic 
dinner  he  has  got  ready  for  us.  We  eat  our  fill  of 
chicken  served  with  rice  and  curry,  cold  mutton  and 
chupatties. 

"Chupatties?  Well,  that's  Indian  for  scones 
made  out  of  flour.  As  we  are  ravenous,  we  agree 
that  they  are  not  a  bad  kind  of  bread,  after  all. 

"We  don't  sit  up  long  to  look  at  Lady  Moon  smil- 
ing down  upon  the  glorious  mountains  around.  We 
are  too  tired.  So,  rolling  ourselves  in  our  rugs,  we 
are  soon  fast  asleep. 

"Suddenly  we  are  roused  by  a  hideous  cry  out- 
side. I  spring  out  of  bed  and  rush  to  the  window, 
Joe  following  me. 

"We  can  hear  Lucy's  teeth  chattering  as  she  tries 
to  ask,  'Is  it  a  tiger  or  a  leopard?' 

"  ' Don't  be  afraid,'  a  man's  voice  calls  to  us  from 
the  veranda.  It  is  Nanko,  who  has  been  sleeping 
on  the  veranda  with  some  coolies. 

"  'It  is  only  a  jackal,'  he  goes  on  calmly.  'You 
will  probably  hear  him  and  his  mates  all  night. 
Jackals  often  come  up  on  the  veranda,  the  landlord 
says.  But  they  never  do  any  harm — really.' 

[49] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"Joe  and  I  try  to  laugh,  and  go  back  to  bed.  But 
we  don't  sleep  soundly  after  that — none  of  us  ex- 
cept Mr.  Allen,  who  is  used  to  rest-houses  in  wild 
places. 

"Next  morning  Joe,  with  big  eyes,  asks  me  if  I 
kept  my  revolver  handy  all  night.  *  Because,'  he 
said,  'if  a  jackal  should  creep  up  on  the  veranda  he 
might  jump  through  the  windows  into  the  room. ' 

"  'Then  what?'  Lucy,  who  is  over  her  fright,  asks 
mischievously.  'I  hope,  Joe,  you,  who  would  like 
so  much  to  hunt  tigers,  wouldn  't  be  afraid  of  a  poor 
lonely  jackal.' 

"  'Of  course  not,'  he  says  stoutly,  but  his  face 
flushes. 

* '  Days  of  hard  riding  go  by,  with  nights  spent  at 
wayside  inns  where  the  sleep  is  broken  by  the  chat- 
tering of  coolies  on  the  verandas  and  the  cries  of 
wild  animals  in  the  distance. 

"Long  since  we  have  left  the  country  of  oranges 
and  pomegranates  and  bamboos  behind  us.  Behind 
us,  too,  are  the  patches  of  rhododendrons  and  huge 
tree-ferns  on  the  hill  slopes,  for  now  at  last  we 
reach  a  beautiful,  open  country.  We  are  close  upon 
the  Vale  of  Kashmir,  with  its  clear  air,  its  birds 
and  flowers  and  sunshine,  its  winding  streams,  its 
lovely  lakes,  its  queer  people. 

"How  glad  we  are  when  we  reach  the  pleasant 
summer  home  of  the  Aliens !  Such  kind  people  as 
they  are !  Joe  and  Lucy  make  friends  at  once  with 

[50] 


SAFE  IN  KASHMIR 

Albert  and  Jessie,  and  the  four  children  make  many 
plans  for  the  good  times  they  will  have  together. 

' '  The  Aliens  are  the  only  Americans  in  the  settle- 
ment. The  other  people  are  English,  some  of  them 
being  the  families  of  officers  stationed  at  the  canton- 
ment in  the  city  of  Srinagar  not  far  away. 

"  There  is  a  garden  around  each  of  the  homes 
where  the  flowers  fill  the  air  with  sweet  odors,  and 
where  birds  and  butterflies  flit  about  from  morning 
till  night. 

' '  Oh,  but  the  view !  Never  before  have  I  looked  on 
so  much  beauty.  Afar  off  in  every  direction  are 
mountains  with  their  snowy  tops  sparkling  in  the 
sunlight.  Near  at  hand  is  the  Jhelum  River  winding 
through  the  plain.  Listen!  I  hear  the  song  of  a 
bulbul  in  the  garden.  It  is  a  beautiful  bird,  some- 
what like  a  nightingale. 

"As  I  sit  here  I  watch  Joe  and  Bert  swinging 
from  the  branch  of  a  mighty  chenar  tree.  It  is 
somewhat  like  a  sycamore,  but  handsomer.  There 
are  thousands  of  such  trees  in  Kashmir — tall  and 
straight  and  graceful.  I  have  seen  whole  groves  of 
them  in  one  walk,  and  they  always  make  me  think 
of  a  company  of  giants. 

"Before  stopping  I  must  tell  you  that  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Allen  seem  to  have  fallen  in  love  with  the 
twins.  They  declare  they  would  like  to  keep  them 
forever  to  be  company  for  Bert  and  Jessie. 

"Mrs.  Allen  is  a  busy  woman,  and  yet  she  has 

[51] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

six  servants!  Her  husband's  salary  is  not  large 
either.  She  manages  nicely,  however,  because  she 
pays  all  of  them  only  thirty  dollars  a  month,  and 
they  feed  themselves! 

"I  said  Mrs.  Allen  is  busy.  Wouldn't  you  be  if 
you  had  to  look  after  six  lazy  servants,  each  of 
whom  does  only  one  kind  of  work?  The  girl  who 
sweeps  the  floors,  for  instance,  only  sweeps  floors. 
She  would  as  soon  cut  her  head  off  as  wipe  dishes, 
and  so  on.  And  this  is  the  way  all  over  India! 

"Really,  I  must  stop,  or  my  pen  will  get  the  habit 
of  perpetual  motion.  So  good-by,  sahib  and  mem- 
sahib.  (That  is  what  your  servants  would  call  you 
if  you  lived  here.) 

"Your  friend  in  a  strange  land, 

"BENJAMIN  ANDKEWS." 

"What  a  nice  letter,  Uncle  Ben ! ' '  said  Lucy  with  a 
dimpling  smile  which  brought  an  answering  smile 
on  her  uncle's  face. 

"Yes,  ever  so  nice,"  said  Joe.  "That  is,  all  but 
the  part  where  you  were  poking  fun  at  me." 

"It  carried  me  back  over  our  ride  here,"  said 
Mrs.  Andrews.  "It  wasn't  an  easy  trip  in  every 
way,  and  yet  it  was  very  delightful. ' ' 

"Suppose  we  now  go  out  under  the  chenar  tree 
till  our  friends  come  back,"  proposed  Mr.  Andrews. 
"I  have  a  good  story  which  I  will  read  aloud  if 
you  like." 

[52] 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  PEDDLERS 

EVERY  native   stares   at  you  twins. "     Bert 
laughed. 

"I  suppose  we  are  so  fair-skinned  we  do  seem 
funny  to  them,  especially  as  we  look  so  much  alike." 
As  Joe  spoke  he  petted  a  tiny  goat  at  his  side. 

"Yes,  it's  an  odd  sight  here — two  pairs  of  eyes 
as  blue  as  the  sky,  two  heads  of  hair  as  yellow  as 
buttercups,  and  two  faces  with  cheeks  that  must 
make  the  people  think  of  the  roses  of  Kashmir." 
Bert  spoke  admiringly. 

"I  say,"  he  went  on,  "it's  a  shame  you  folks 
couldn't  have  come  here  in  time  to  see  the  roses  at 
their  best.  Lucy,  you  wouldn't  have  taken  time 
enough  to  eat.  You  would  just  have  wandered 
around  crying  '  Oh ! '  till  your  breath  gave  out. ' ' 

"Hm !  I  guess  I  would  have  stopped  long  enough 
to  enjoy  a  dinner  of  roasted  wild  duck.  I  never  in 
my  life  tasted  such  fine  ducks  as  you  have  here." 

Lucy  looked  up  with  a  twist  of  her  pretty  head 
from  the  dress  she  was  making  for  Jessie's  Hindu 
doll.  She  had  just  finished  a  head  covering  in  which 
she  had  cut  two  small  holes  for  eyes. 

[53] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"I  should  never  miss  roast  beef  here,"  said  Joe. 
"Not  with  plenty  of  ducks  and  chickens  to  eat." 

"But  it  does  seem  queer  for  the  natives  to  think  it 
a  sin  to  eat  beef,"  said  Lucy. 

"And  a  big  sin  too."  Bert  chuckled.  "Why,  I 
shouldn't  wonder  if  the  Maharajah — he's  the  native 
ruler  of  Kashmir,  you  know — would  have  any  man 
who  killed  a  cow  put  to  death." 

"On  the  other  hand,  how  about  the  goats  of  the 
country?"  Once  more  Joe  smoothed  the  silky  hair 
of  the  kid  by  his  side. 

"My  goat  shall  never  be  killed."  Bert's  dark 
eyes  snapped  as  he  spoke.  He  was  very  fond  of 
his  pet. 

"This  kiddie  belongs  to  the  famous  breed  of  goats 
found  here,"  Bert  went  on.  "Of  course,  you  twins 
have  heard  of  the  shawls  of  Kashmir.  They  are 
made  out  of  the  flossy  part  of  the  goats '  hair.  Only 
a  tiny  bit  of  hair  can  be  combed  from  one  animal. 
People  say  the  weavers  of  to-day  don't  make  as 
beautiful  shawls  as  in  the  old  times.  But  when  you 
see  some  of  those  for  sale  in  Srinagar,  you'll  say 
they  are  beautiful  enough  to  suit  any  one. ' ' 

"What  a  good  time  we  had  yesterday  visiting 
that  goat-herd  on  the  hillside ! ' '  broke  in  Lucy.  * '  He 
had  a  big  flock  to  look  after,  but  he  didn't  seem  to 
mind  stopping  to  talk  with  Nanko  and  you,  Bert. 
I  wish  I  could  have  understood  what  he  was  saying. ' ' 

"I  didn't  tell  you  about  it  afterwards,  did  I!" 

[54] 


THE  PEDDLERS 

Bert  stretched  out  under  the  chenar  tree  and  shut 
his  eyes  to  think  better.  "He  described  a  leopard 
he  saw  last  winter.  By  the  way,  bears  and  leopards 
come  around  here  in  winter — real  friendly,  you 
see."  Bert  began  to  laugh  and  the  others  with  him. 

"Well,  he  was  wandering  over  a  wild  stretch  of 
country  on  a  lone  mountain  slope  when  he  heard  a 
groan  coming  from  a  thicket  not  far  away.  He  hur- 
ried up  to  the  spot  and  found  a  hunter  lying  there 
with  a  broken  leg.  Worse  still,  the  flesh  of  the  leg 
had  been  torn  in  the  most  frightful  way. 

'  *  The  hunter  managed  to  explain  that  he  had  had 
a  fight  with  a  leopard  which  he  had  killed  after  a 
terrible  struggle,  and  the  animal  must  have  fallen 
close  by.  Sure  enough!  under  a  pine  tree  a  few 
feet  away  the  leopard  lay  stretched,  with  a  bullet 
through  his  head." 

"Now  tell  Joe  and  Lucy  our  bear  story,"  said 
Jessie. 

"Oh,  yes;  we  call  it  ours  because  our  brother 
George  had  a  share  in  the  adventure,"  said  Bert. 
"And  a  lot  of  excitement  he  had  too.  It  happened 
this  way:  he  staid  up  here  in  Kashmir  one  winter 
because  he  wasn't  very  well.  He  wasn't  over  seven- 
teen or  eighteen  then. 

"Well,  there  were  a  few  English  people  around 
here.  One  of  them  was  a  Mr.  Jarvis  who  was  very 
fond  of  hunting,  but  had  not  had  much  experience. 

"  'I've  been  after  stags  more  than  once,'  he  said. 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

'And  now  I'd  like  nothing  better  than  a  good  hunt 
after  bears.'  " 

"  'Plenty  of  them  not  far  away,'  said  another 
hunter.  'So  let's  get  after  them  to-morrow.' 

"Bert  joined  the  party  which  started  out  on 
horse-back  early  next  morning.  A  ride  of  a  dozen 
miles  or  so  brought  the  hunters  among  high  snow- 
covered  hills  with  wooded  ravines  in  between.  The 
party  hitched  their  ponies  in  a  sheltered  space  on 
one  of  the  slopes.  Then,  softly,  with  rifles  ready, 
they  started  to  explore. 

"  'Hist!'  suddenly  exclaimed  George.  'If  I'm  not 
mistaken  I  hear  some  animal  pawing  away  the  bush 
on  the  slope  of  yonder  ravine ! ' 

"  'Roll  down  a  stone  and  see  what  happens,'  said 
another  of  the  party. 

"The  next  minute  a  stone  was  on  its  way  down 
the  slope,  and  the  same  instant  an  immense  black 
bear  came  into  sight,  moving  with  careful  steps 
down  the  side  of  the  ravine.  Instantly  George's 
rifle  was  sending  a  bullet  after  the  beast.  So  also 
was  that  of  Mr.  Jarvis. 

' '  They  were  good  shots,  both  of  them !  The  bear 
reeled,  then  plunged  downward  with  a  single  cry  of 
pain." 

"And  after  that?"  cried  Joe  excitedly. 

1 '  Then  came  the  real  fun ! ' '  Bert  answered.  ' '  For 
now  the  hunters  went  as  fast  as  they  could  to  reach 
the  dead  beast,  Mr.  Jarvis  ahead  of  the  rest. 

[56] 


THE  PEDDLERS 

"And  what  do  you  think!  He  ran  straight  into 
another  bear  as  big  as  the  first — the  mate,  I  suppose, 
of  the  dead  one. 

" Before  one  could  say  'Boo!'  that  bear's  forelegs 
were  closing  around  the  man.  It  was  a  miracle  that 
he  was  saved.  George  closed  in  behind  the  bear  the 
next  instant  and  shot  her  without  injuring  Mr. 
Jarvis. ' ' 

"Oh-h!"  said  Lucy.  "I  feel  as  if  bears  might 
creep  upon  us  any  minute." 

' '  Not  in  the  summer  time ! ' '  Bert  laughed  merrily. 
"But  see  who  are  coming  upon  us  while  I've  been 
talking."  The  lad  pointed  to  the  road  in  front  of 
the  bungalow,  where  two  men,  heavily  laden,  stopped 
as  he  spoke. 

"Peddlers,  I'll  be  bound,"  Bert  went  on,  as  the 
men  now  came  up  the  walk  towards  the  chenar  tree 
beneath  which  the  children  were  sitting.  * '  They  are 
natives  of  Kashmir.  I  can  tell  that  by  their  grayish- 
brown  clothes." 

"Now  for  some  fun!"  Jessie  whispered  to  Lucy. 

By  the  time  the  peddlers  had  reached  the  chil- 
dren Mrs.  Allen  and  Mrs.  Andrews  had  come  down 
from  the  house.  The  men  began  at  once  to  talk 
about  their  wares,  at  the  same  time  setting  down 
their  baskets  and  drawing  out  different  things  from 
them. 

One  of  the  peddlers  held  up  a  magnificent  screen 

[57] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

of  peacock  feathers  in  one  hand,  and  the  skins  of 
some  bulbuls  in  the  other. 

The  second  man  spread  out  jars  of  strawberry 
jam,  and  ripe  peaches  and  apricots  that  called  forth 
sighs  of  longing  from  the  children. 

"That  feather  screen  is  a  beauty,"  Mrs.  Andrews 
told  her  hostess.  "I  would  buy  it  as  a  souvenir  of 
Kashmir's  peacocks,  but  there  is  no  room  in  our 
trunks  in  which  to  pack  it. ' ' 

"As  for  me,  I  will  have  some  peaches  and  several 
jars  of  the  jam.  We  shall  all  enjoy  them,"  decided 
Mrs.  Andrews. 

Just  then  the  first  peddler  displayed  some  lovely 
pin-trays  and  boxes  of  papier  mache  which  Mrs. 
Andrews  could  not  resist  when  Bert  spoke  of  their 
coming  from  Srinagar. 

"I've  seen  papier  mache  made  there,"  he  said. 
"It  is  ever  so  interesting  to  watch  the  makers  gluing 
the  strips  of  paper  together,  one  above  the  other, 
and  finally  decorating  and  glazing  the  outside. ' ' 

As  trading  in  India  takes  a  good  while,  an  hour 
passed  before  the  purchases  were  made  and  the 
peddlers  with  deep  salaams  went  on  their  way. 


[58] 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   SIGHTS   OF   SBINAGAE 

HURRAH,  everybody's  aboard!"  shouted  Joe 
in  great  glee  as  the  last  one  of  the  party 
stepped  on  the  boat,  and  the  boatmen  seized  their 
poles  in  readiness  to  work. 

"This  is  great  fun,"  sighed  Lucy  as  she  leaned 
back  and  looked  lazily  at  the  river.  "I've  been  in 
steam-boats,  and  row-boats,  and  canoes,  and  yachts, 
but  this  is  the  first  time  I  ever  had  a  chance  to  be 
poled  through  the  water." 

"I'm  glad  that  all  could  come  on  this  trip,"  said 
Mrs.  Allen  brightly. 

"It's  too  lovely  for  anything — just  like  a  dream," 
Lucy  whispered  to  her  aunt,  as  the  boat  glided 
on  past  fields  of  wild  thyme,  and  homes  close  to  the 
water's  edge  with  beautiful  gardens  and  tall  cedar 
and  chenar  trees  about  them. 

"That  must  be  Srinagar  ahead  of  us,"  said  Joe 
after  a  ride  of  an  hour  or  more. 

' '  Correct, ' '  said  Bert.  ' '  But  you  won 't  care  much 
for  what  you  see  of  it  from  the  river." 

Bert  spoke  truly.  As  the  boat  glided  along  the 
shore,  the  travelers  looked  upon  many  an  old  gray 

[59] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

wooden  house  that  seemed  ready  to  tumble  into  the 
water  below. 

"Sometimes  I  see  faces  peering  down  at  us  from 
behind  the  latticed  windows,"  said  Lucy.  "Why, 
it's  just  like  being  in  prison — the  way  the  women 
of  good  families  are  shut  in!'*  The  little  girl  spoke 
indignantly. 

* '  Those  children  seem  free  enough ! ' '  said  George 
Allen.  *  *  They  are  having  a  good  time,  at  any  rate. ' ' 

He  pointed  to  a  group  of  boys  and  girls  playing 
hide-and-seek  along  a  stone  embankment. 

"Look  at  those  brick  houses  just  beyond!"  cried 
Joe  a  minute  later.  The  balconies  are  built  out 
over  the  water.  I'd  like  that  if  I  lived  there.  I 
could  stay  at  home  and  go  fishing  at  the  same  time." 

At  these  words  everybody,  being  in  a  merry  mood, 
laughed. 

' '  Please  look  at  that  ugly  palace, ' '  Mr.  Allen  said 
shortly.  "Its  windows  are  of  stained  glass,  you  will 
notice.  Well,  that  belongs  to  the  Maharajah.  He 
may  be  looking  out  at  us  now. ' ' 

"I  don't  think  much  of  his  taste,  even  if  he  is  a 
Maharajah,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews. 

"Now,  let  me  see!"  considered  Mr.  Allen.  "You 
will  all  wish  to  visit  the  bazaar  and  the  shawl  fac- 
tory. Then,  if  we  have  time,  we  will  go  to  watch 
the  making  of  silks  almost  as  delicate  as  cobwebs." 

A  little  while  afterwards,  as  Joe  and  Lucy  wan- 
dered through  the  bazaar,  they  looked  with  wonder 

[60] 


THE  SIGHTS  OF  SRINAGAR 

at  the  sights  spread  out  before  them.  There  was 
silver-ware  made  into  the  most  graceful  shapes. 
There  were  woolen  goods  exquisitely  embroidered. 
There  were  the  famous  Kashmir  shawls  each  of 
which  had  probably  taken  one  person  years  to  make. 
There  were  brocaded  silks  in  which  the  thinnest 
gold  and  silver  wire  had  been  used  in  the  patterns. 

"A  trained  silver-smith  can  draw  a  wire  almost 
a  mile  long  from  a  lump  of  silver  no  bigger  than  a 
half-dollar,"  Mr.  Allen  explained  to  the  twins. 

"Whew!    I'd  like  to  see  him  do  it,"  cried  Joe. 

In  the  next  street  of  the  bazaar  which  the  twins 
entered  they  found  boys  no  older  than  themselves 
busily  embroidering  shawls  with  gold  thread  and 
silks  of  beautiful  colors. 

"What  pretty  fellows  they  are!"  Lucy  whispered 
to  her  brother.  "And  what  gay  clothes  they  have 
on!  Those  pointed  yellow  caps  on  their  ;heads  are 
ever  so  becoming." 

Just  then  one  of  the  boys  looked  up  at  Lucy  out 
of  big,  dark,  smiling  eyes. 

"They  like  their  work,"  said  Joe  as  the  twins 
moved  on,  "or  else  they  wouldn't  laugh  and  chatter 
as  they  do. ' ' 

"We  are  now  going  to  a  factory  where  the  shawls 
are  made  by  looms,"  Mr.  Allen  told  the  twins  as 
they  still  stood  watching  the  lads  embroidering. 

When  they  reached  the  factory  they  were  sur- 
prised to  find  the  workers  there  were  nearly  all  boys. 

[61] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

The  work  that  interested  the  twins  most  was  the 
weaving.  They  had  entered  a  large,  bare-looking 
room  in  which  boys  were  sitting  at  small  looms. 
Each  boy  had  a  tray  beside  him,  filled  with  whatever 
colors  he  would  need  in  the  pattern  he  was  following. 

Other  boys  acted  as  teachers.  Each  one  of  these 
was  reading  to  the  group  of  workers  around  him 
what  colors  to  use. 

"Listen,"  Nanko  said  to  Joe  as  he  stood  watching 
the  lads  nearest  him.  "That  teacher  is  saying, 
'Two  blue!'  And  next  he  says,  'Three  yellow.' 
Each  time  the  workers  use  the  colors  he  orders." 

"Every  one  of  those  boys  ought  to  be  out  playing 
in  the  sunshine  this  minute,"  said  Joe  hotly. 

As  the  party  left  the  shawl  factory  Nanko  told 
Joe  and  Lucy  of  the  wonderful  days  of  long  ago 
when  a  ruler  of  the  country  once  sent  fifteen  ele- 
phant-loads of  gifts  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  Many 
of  these  gifts  were  shawls  of  Kashmir,  each  one  of 
which  was  worth  a  small  fortune. 

"Those  were  the  days  when  the  people  of  Kash- 
mir were  rich,"  he  went  on.  "Now  most  of  them 
are  poor — very  poor;  like  nearly  all  the  people  of 
India."  The  man  spoke  sadly. 

Joe  and  Lucy  were  still  thinking  about  shawls, 
and  wishing  they  were  rich  enough  to  buy  one  for 
their  mother,  when  they  reached  the  big  silk  factory 
of  Srinagar. 

But  when  the  twins  once  began  to  look  at  the 

[62] 


THE  SIGHTS  OF  SRINAGAR 

beautiful  silks  being  spun  before  their  eyes,  they 
could  think  only  of  the  beautiful  colors. 

"Such  a  glorious  yellow  I  never  saw  before !"  said 
Mrs.  Andrews  to  Lucy.  "What  a  beautiful  dress 
could  be  made  from  it ! " 

Her  husband  heard  her,  and  then  and  there  de- 
cided to  buy  a  piece  of  this  silk  for  a  surprise  for 
his  wife  before  leaving  Kashmir. 

"It  is  now  late  afternoon,"  said  Mr.  Allen,  as  the 
party  left  the  wondrous  silks  behind  them.  "So 
it  is  the  best  time  of  the  day  to  get  a  view  of  the 
city.  We  must  certainly  go  to  the  top  of  a  hill  I 
have  visited,  and  look  down  at  the  sights  behind." 

"That  will  make  a  perfect  ending  of  a  perfect 
day,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews  happily. 

To  this  every  one  agreed. 

When  the  hill  top  had  been  reached  Joe  and  Lucy 
were  "all  eyes"  as  they  looked  down  over  palaces, 
marble  mosques,  and  temples  with  gilded  tops, 
houses  with  carved,  overhanging  balconies,  gardens 
where  fountains  were  playing  and  birds  flying  above 
beds  of  yellow  and  crimson  flowers.  In  and  out 
among  the  buildings  was  a  net-work  of  canals  in 
which  boats  were  moving  back  and  forth. 

"I  suppose,"  said  Joe,  who  had  been  silent  for  a 
long  time,  "those  canals  have  been  cut  in  from  the 
river. ' ' 

George  Allen  nodded. 

1  *  The  strangest  sight  of  all  is  the  housetops  with. 

[63] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

vines  and  plants  growing  all  over  them,"  said  Jes- 
sie. ' '  The  first  time  I  came  here — I  was  little  then — 
I  wondered  if  the  wind  had  carried  them  up  there. 
But  now  I  know  that  the  people  plant  them  in  soil 
they  spread  over  the  roofs." 

After  Mr.  Allen  had  pointed  out  an  old  fortress 
which  had  been  built  by  Akbar,  and  then  the  canton- 
ment of  English  soldiers,  he  turned  his  eyes  to  the 
river  flowing  lazily  past  the  city  and  the  bridges 
which  spanned  it  at  different  points. 

" Perhaps,  Joe  and  Lucy,"  he  said  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eyes,  "you  will  yet  sail  under  every  one  of 
those  bridges,  and  be  keeping  house  at  the  same 
time." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Joe  quickly. 

"Oh,  you'll  find  out  by  and  by,"  was  the  laughing 
answer. 


[64] 


CHAPTER  VIII 

IN   A   HOUSEBOAT 

JOE,  I  never  dreamed  of  having  such  an  adven- 
ture as  this ! ' ' 

1  'Nor  I!"  Joe  beamed.  "What  would  Arthur 
Freeman  think  of  us  now — living  in  a  houseboat  on 
the  Jhelum  Eiver,  with  jabbering  natives  taking  the 
boat  wherever  Uncle  Ben  orders.  I  say,  Lucy,  he's 
the  best  uncle  that  ever  lived  to  give  us  this  treat." 

"I  should  say!"  Lucy's  joy  expressed  itself  in 
deepening  dimples.  "Here  we've  lived  for  two 
whole  weeks,  with  Bert  and  Jessie  for  company  part 
of  the  time,  and  fun  every  minute." 

"Hm!  how  about  last  night  when  you  screamed 
just  because  a  mouse  ran  under  your  pillow  and 
woke  you  up?" 

"Oh,  that  was  only  for  a  moment,"  Lucy  answered 
quickly.  Then  she  went  on,  quite  ready  to  change 
the  subject,  "What  lovely  dinners  we've  had  every 
day.  The  kitchen  boat  is  so  small,  though,  I  don't 
see  how  the  cook  can  get  up  such  good  meals.  It's 
great  fun  having  them  brought  into  our  little  dining- 
room  piping  hot.*' 

"I'd  like  to  peek  into  the  kitchen-boat  at  night." 

[65] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

Joe's  eyes  danced.  "  Where  the  cook  and  her  family 
all  sleep  is  a  mystery  to  me.  When  they  are  stand- 
ing up  they  can  scarcely  turn  around.  Why  there 's 
the  cook,  and  her  husband  and  two  children,  besides 
the  baby,  to  say  nothing  of  the  coop  full  of  chickens 
— we  are  fast  eating  those  up,  though. ' ' 

"Hark!  there's  a  quarrel  going  on  in  the  kitchen 
boat  now,"  said  Lucy  pricking  up  her  ears.  "And 
Uncle  Ben  and  Aunt  Nell  off  in  the  little  pleasure 
boat!  0  dear!  I  suppose  the  quarrel  is  between 
two  of  the  boatmen  who  went  out  there  to  talk  and 
smoke  as  soon  as  they  had  brought  us  to  this  landing 
place  on  the  border  of  the  lake." 

"Nanko  will  stop  the  quarreling,  so  don't  worry. 
There!  I  just  saw  him  go  over  our  boatside,"  re- 
plied Joe,  who  had  been  leaning  his  head  out  of  the 
window  of  the  pretty  living-room  where  he  and  Lucy 
were  sitting. 

As  the  noise  stopped  Lucy  went  on,  "I  wish,  Joe, 
I  could  make  a  moving  picture  of  this  beautiful 
lake  and  the  country  around  it." 

"What  would  you  put  in  the  picture?"  asked  Joe 
lazily. 

"Let  me  see.  There  would  be  willow  forests 
along  the  sides  of  the  canals  that  lead  out  of  the 
lake.  And  there  would  be  orchards  of  pears  and 
plums  and  peaches  that  make  me  thing  of  the  coun- 
try at  home.  But  the  villages  are  so  different — the 
roofs  of  the  little  wooden  houses  are  covered  with 

[66] 


IN  A  HOUSEBOAT 

gardens.  The  flowers  there  are  nodding  quietly  in 
the  breeze — pink  and  purple,  yellow  and  white  blos- 
soms, hundreds  of  them. 

"Oh!  and  now  we  pass  some  women  with  big 
brass  jars  on  their  heads.  They  are  on  the  way  to 
get  water  from  the  lake. 

"Everywhere  along  the  borders,  there  are  chil- 
dren and  ducks  paddling  in  the  water.  Some  of  the 
children  look  dirty,  but  they  are  laughing  and  shout- 
ing as  if  perfectly  happy." 

As  his  sister  stopped  speaking  Joe  cried,  "I'm 
surprised  at  you,  Lucy  Grayson.  You  never  men- 
tioned the  birds — bulbuls  and  doves  and  swallows. 
They  are  always  flying  about  us,  and  aren't  a  bit 
afraid.  Listen!  I  hear  doves  cooing  on  the  boat- 
roof  this  minute ! ' ' 

"Neither  did  I  put  Akbar's  ruined  garden  into  the 
picture.  You  didn't  give  me  time,"  Lucy  answered 
impatiently.  ' '  Suppose  you  paint  them.  They  are 
so  beautiful  even  though  they  are  in  ruins,  that  I 
guess  you'll  find  it  hard  work." 

Joe,  put  on  his  mettle,  began  at  once.  "We  are 
now  at  the  far  end  of  the  lake,"  he  said.  "We  move 
in  our  little  pleasure  boat  through  a  narrow  water- 
way lined  with  willows.  Ahead  of  us  is  a  gateway 
in  ruins.  Beyond  this  are  terraces  where  many 
fruit  trees  are  growing.  Cascades  fill  the  air  with 
music.  Fountains,  almost  hidden  in  the  tall  grass, 
are  sending  up  jets  of  water  that  flash  in  the  sun- 

[67] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

light.    Flowers  are  blooming  everywhere.    Birds  are 
singing. ' ' 

' '  Good ! ' '  Lucy  had  to  exclaim. 

"We've  been  so  busy  talking,"  Joe  suddenly 
cried,  "that  we  didn't  see  Uncle  Ben  and  Aunt  Nell 
as  they  came  up.  Nanko  is  helping  them  aboard  now ! ' ' 

As  the  children  went  outside  to  meet  their  uncle 
and  aunt,  Mrs.  Andrews  held  up  a  lotus  blossom. 

' '  Isn  't  it  beautiful  ? ' '  she  asked.  ' '  While  we  were 
paddling,  we  got  into  a  shallow  place  where  the  lotus 
pads  closed  in  around  the  boat.  Nanko,  has  not  the 
lotus  a  special  meaning  for  Hindus?" 

"Yes,  memsahib.  In  the  sacred  books  of  my  peo- 
ple it  is  spoken  of  as  the  flower  of  life — of  life  ever- 
lasting." 

"That  is  a  beautiful  idea,  because  this  lily,  grow- 
ing up  out  of  the  mud,  blossoms  in  the  clear  air  and 
sunlight  above  the  water."  Mrs.  Andrews  spoke 
softly. 

"Oh-h!"  said  Lucy  the  next  minute.  Her  deep 
blue  eyes  were  filled  with  wonder  as  she  looked 
towards  the  mountain  tops  in  the  distance. 

The  sun  was  setting,  and  as  its  light  fell  upon 
the  snowy  summits,  they  turned  from  white  to  pale 
pink,  and  then  to  a  rosy  red.  Over  all  was  the  sky 
aglow  with  tints  of  gold  and  crimson  which  reflected 
themselves  in  the  calm  waters  of  the  lake. 

"God  is  speaking  in  the  beauty  he  has  spread 
before  us,"  said  Mr.  Andrews  reverently. 

[68] 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN   FAMOUS   DELHI 

IT  seems  sort  of  queer  to  me" — Lucy  spoke  slowly 
— "that  this  old,  old  city  should  now  be  the 
capital  of  India." 

"The  part  of  Delhi  we  visited  yesterday  seems 
almost  unpleasantly  new  to  me."  Mr.  Andrews' 
eyes  twinkled  roguishly. 

"I  suppose  you  are  thinking  of  the  mills  with 
their  chimneys  sending  out  dirty  smoke,  and  the 
business  section  generally,"  said  Joe.  "Of  course 
we  ought  to  have  seen  it  so  as  to  realize  how  much 
cotton  is  manufactured  here.  But  it's  tiresome. 
We  can  look  at  such  sights  at  home." 

"Yes,  so  let's  not  think  about  factories  any  more 
than  is  necessary."  Lucy  leaned  over  and  gave  her 
uncle  a  love-pat. 

"You  see,"  she  went  on,  "when -I  spoke  I  was 
thinking  of  the  days  of  the  Moguls.  Nanko  told  me 
that  they  were  most  powerful  in  this  part  of  the 
country ;  and  in  Delhi  and  around  it  they  built  many 
of  their  grandest  palaces." 

"We  shall  shortly  see  something  of  the  glory 
the  Moguls  left  behind  them,"  said  Mr.  Andrews. 

[69] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"As  soon  as  your  aunt  wakes  up  from  her  nap  we 
will  start  out.  From  what  I  have  read,  I  judge  our 
eyes  will  be  pretty  big  by  the  time  we  get  back  to 
this  hotel." 

As  Mr.  Andrews  spoke  his  wife  opened  the  door. 

"I've  had  such  a  good  rest!"  she  declared.  "I 
hate  to  spend  any  daytime  sleeping,  but  after  the 
month  spent  in  the  clear  air  of  Kashmir,  I  find  that 
the  city  life  makes  me  quickly  tired." 

"The  weeks  we  spent  up  in  the  beautiful  Vale 
were  good  for  us,  I  guess,"  Lucy  told  her  brother 
as  the  two  followed  Nanko  and  their  uncle  and  aunt 
out  to  the  street." 

"Yes,  and  I  suppose  we  needed  it  because  we'll 
be  on  the  go  the  rest  of  the  time  we  are  in  India." 
Joe,  boy-like,  spoke  as  if  glad  that  this  would  be  so. 

"Hurry!"  he  added.  "We  are  going  sight-seeing 
in  palanquins!  Uncle  didn't  tell  us  beforehand  so 
we  could  have  a  surprise.  Here  come  the  coolies 
with  them.  I  say !  this  will  be  great  sport. ' ' 

"We  can  imagine  ourselves  living  in  the  times  of 
the  Moguls!"  said  Lucy  gleefully  as  she  stepped 
into  a  litter  with  red  curtains  hanging  from  the 
framework  above. 

The  next  minute  dark-skinned  coolies  clad  in  loin- 
cloths were  stepping  off  with  the  travelers  in  their 
various  palanquins  at  a  lively  trot,  while  the  twins 
laughingly  peeked  out  at  the  passers-by  from  time 
to  time  from  behind  the  curtains. 

[70] 


IN  FAMOUS  DELHI 

First  of  all,  the  party  were  taken  to  the  immense 
fort  which  was  also  a  palace  built  by  Shah  Jehan, 
Akbar's  famous  grandson. 

As  they  stepped  out  of  their  palanquins  they 
found  themselves  standing  before  the  grand  Lahore 
Gate  built  in  a  mighty  wall  with  battlements  above, 
and  deep  moats  below. 

''Oh!"  exclaimed  the  twins  as  they  passed 
through  the  gate  and  entered  the  palace.  For  a  long 
time  after  that  no  one  felt  like  speaking.  All  were 
filled  with  wonder  at  the  vastness  of  the  hall  of  red 
sandstone  in  which  they  found  themselves. 

At  last,  however,  when  they  had  crossed  the  hall 
to  the  alcove  at  the  far  end  Joe  "found  his  tongue," 
as  folks  say. 

"Did  you  ever  see  anything  so  wonderful?"  he 
cried  as  he  turned  his  eyes  from  the  marble  floor 
to  the  richly  carved  marble  pillars,  and  then  to  the 
walls  of  the  alcove  where  he  saw  painted  flowers  and 
birds  and  fruits  glistening  with  precious  stones. 

Then,  speechless  again,  Joe  listened  with  the 
others  while  a  guide  explained  that  on  the  marble 
platform  before  them  once  stood  the  famous  Pea- 
cock Throne  built  by  Shah  Jehan. 

"The  best  jewelers  in  all  the  land,"  said  the  guide, 
"were  kept  busy  for  months — years  perhaps — set- 
ting precious  stones  in  that  wondrous  throne  which 
was  shaped  so  as  to  represent  a  peacock.  Diamonds, 
rubies  and  emeralds  of  untold  value  sparkled  in  the 

[71] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

feathers  of  the  peacock's  tail.  Over  all  was  a  roof 
sheeted  in  silver.  Never  in  all  the  world  was  there  a 
throne  like  unto  that  of  Shah  Jehan." 

The  guide  now  led  the  way  to  the  hall  where  the 
great  ruler  once  gathered  his  court  about  him.  It 
was  an  open  pavilion  of  white  marble  with  walls  and 
pillars  and  arches — even  the  ceiling — inlaid  with  the 
softest,  richest  colors. 

"Are  we  dreaming?"  Lucy  whispered  to  her  aunt. 
"If  so,  I  don't  wish  to  wake  up." 

Before  the  sightseers  left  the  palace  they  went  out 
on  the  stone  balconies  where  they  could  look  down 
on  the  Jumna  Eiver  flowing  past. 

"Other  children  must  have  been  here  in  the  long- 
ago,"  Mrs.  Andrews  said  to  the  twins  as  they  walked 
along  the  now  lonely  balconies.  "No  doubt  they 
played  many  a  game  here,  and  listened  to  many  a 
story  of  battles  their  fathers  had  fought  with  their 
enemies. ' ' 

"But  now  let  us  consider  the  present,"  suggested 
Mr.  Andrews.  "Our  coolies  are  waiting  outside  to 
take  us  to  the  largest  mosque  in  the  world.  It  is 
but  a  short  distance  from  here,  so  Nanko  tells  me." 

"I  suppose  we'll  have  to  take  off  our  shoes  before 
we  enter  it,"  said  Joe  merrily.  "At  every  mosque 
we  have  entered  so  far  that  has  had  to  be  done. ' ' 

"The  last  time — that  was  up  in  Srinagar" — 
Lucy's  face  broke  out  into  smiles" — one  of  my  shoes 
got  lost  somehow  by  the  doorkeeper,  and  when  I  had 

[72] 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  -V.  Y. 

A   STATE   PROCESSION  AT   DELHI.— Page  72 


IN  FAMOUS  DELHI 

handed  him  back  the  slippers  he  had  given  me  to 
wear  inside  the  mosque,  lo  and  behold!  I  had  to  go 
home  like  Cinderella — with  only  a  stocking  on  one 
of  my  feet." 

When  Jama  Mas  j  id,  the  famous  mosque,  was 
reached,  however,  neither  Joe  nor  his  sister  thought 
of  anything  that  had  happened  before.  They  were 
too  busy  with  the  present.  And  no  wonder!  For 
there  before  them  towered  a  lofty  building  of  marble 
and  red  sandstone  with  three  magnificent  gateways 
opening  into  it,  to  reach  which  there  were  three 
high,  broad  flights  of  stairs. 

When  Lucy  and  her  aunt  had  climbed  to  the  top 
of  one  of  these  flights  they  were  out  of  breath. 

"I'm  glad  I  had  a  nap  before  starting  on  the 
afternoon's  sight-seeing,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews  with 
a  laugh.  "I  needed  to  feel  fresh  for  such  an  under- 
taking as  this  last." 

After  the  travelers  had  looked  about  the  mosque 
their  guide,  who  was  a  priest,  showed  them  what 
Mohammedans  consider  their  most  priceless  posses- 
sions— a  slipper  once  worn  by  Mohammed,  a  hair 
that  once  grew  on  his  head,  and  some  foot  prints  in 
stone  which  the  priest  said  solemnly  were  those  of 
Mohammed  himself. 

That  evening,  after  the  party  had  returned  to  the 
hotel,  they  all  declared  they  were  too  tired  from 
sightseeing  to  sit  up  many  minutes. 

"My  eyes  have  been  kept  big  so  long  from  look- 

[73] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

ing  at  wonders,  they  are  crying  to  be  shut,"  said 
Joe  as  he  started  for  bed. 

Yet  when  once  there  he  was  not  too  sleepy  to  call 
to  his  sister,  ' '  Say,  twin  dear,  while  I  was  riding  in 
state  in  my  palanquin  I  looked  out  at  something 
awfully  interesting;  it  was  a  boy  no  bigger  than  I 
am  who  had  stopped  on  one  side  of  the  street  just 
as  I  caught  sight  of  him.  I  was  in  time  to  see  him 
take  a  snake  out  of  a  bag  and  set  him  fighting  with 
a  queer-looking  little  animal  about  the  size  of  a 
weasel,  with  a  bushy  tail  like  a  fox.  I  guess  it  was 
a  mongoose.  Well,  you  should  have  seen  those  two. 
The  snake  was  trying  to  wind  itself  around  the  mon- 
goose's  body,  and  the  mongoose  was  doing  his  best 
to  bite  the  snake 's  head. 

"A  crowd  was  fast  gathering  around  the  boy,  but 
the  coolies  were  moving  too  fast  for  me  to  see  the 
end  of  the  fight.  I'll  bet  the  mongoose  won." 

"Oh,  dear!  why  will  you  say,  bet?"  came  the  an- 
swer. "Besides,  you  horrid  boy,  you'll  make  me 
dream  of  cobras  and  other  dreadful  things  and  I'll 
have  a  nightmare.  I  like  to  think  of  something 
pleasanter  than  snakes  before  going  to  sleep,  like 
the  Hindu  I  got  a  peek  at.  He  had  a  long  pole  over 
his  shoulder.  At  one  end  of  it  was  a  basket  with  a 
baby  inside,  and  at  the  other  end  was  a  big  bundle. 
The  dear  little  baby  was  crowing  as  if  he  was  enjoy- 
ing himself." 

"Hm!  if  you  were  a  boy,  Lucy,"  said  Joe  sleepily, 

[74] 


IN  FAMOUS  DELHI 

"you'd  rather  be  thinking  of  the  fights  between 
tigers  and  elephants  that  took  place  right  in  the 
cities  of  the  Moguls.  Nanko  has  been  telling  me 
about  them — the  beasts  were  brought  from  the 
jungles  to  entertain  the  great  rulers!  Some  fights 
those  must  have  been." 

Lucy,  snuggled  safely  in  her  comfortable  bed, 
shivered,  but  said  no  more. 


[75] 


CHAPTEE  X 

SIGHTSEEING   IN   AGRA 

I  HAVEN'T  got  the  thought  of  the  ruins  around 
Delhi  out  of  my  mind  yet. ' '  Little  Mrs.  Andrews 
sighed. 

"I'll  never  forget  the  long  gloomy  road  bordered 
with  trees  that  led  out  from  the  city,"  said  Lucy. 
* '  I  thought  of  ghosts  as  I  looked  at  all  those  ruined 
palaces  and  tombs  and  towers  and  mosques  spread 
out  over  the  dirty  plain." 

"I  was  too  busy  watching  for  vultures  and  par- 
rots which  were  peering  down  at  us  from  the  trees, 
to  fancy  ghosts  about ! ' '  said  Joe. 

"I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  vast  wealth  of 
the  Moguls,"  said  Mr.  Andrews. 

"When  at  last  we  reached  the  Kutb  tower  at  the 
end  of  the  ride,"  Joe  admitted,  "I  forgot  the  par- 
rots. Whew,  but  it's  a  corker.  It  has  five  stories, 
hasn't  it,  Uncle  Ben?" 

"Yes,  the  three  lower  ones,  you  will  remember, 
are  of  red  sandstone,  while  the  two  upper  ones  are 
faced  with  white  marble." 

"It's  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  high,  and  fifty 
feet  through.  I  know  that,"  said  Lucy. 

[77] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"And  it  was  built  by  the  Sultan  Kutb  who  had 
once  been  a  slave,"  added  Joe.  "Queer,  wasn't  it, 
for  a  slave  to  become  a  general,  and  then  to  grow 
powerful  enough  to  make  himself  ruler  of  millions 
of  people?" 

"We  might  have  got  some  idea  of  the  wealth  of 
India's  products  if  we  had  climbed  the  steps  inside 
leading  to  the  top  of  the  tower,"  said  Mr.  Andrews. 
"But  the  day  was  too  warm  for  such  hard  work." 

"What  would  we  have  seen,  Uncle  Ben?"  asked 
Lucy. 

"A  vast  stretch  of  rich  country  where  thousands 
of  acres  of  sugar  and  rice,  indigo,  and  opium,  and 
wheat  yield  abundant  crops, — that  is,  except  in 
times  when  the  rains  are  withheld.  Then  famine 
follows  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  natives  die  of 
hunger."  Mr.  Andrews  spoke  sadly. 

"Most  of  the  people  are  so  poor,"  he  went  on, 
"that  they  cannot  save  money  ahead  for  such  times 
of  need." 

The  next  moment  the  kind  gentleman's  face 
brightened.  "Suppose,"  he  said,  "we  forget  the 
ruins  of  Delhi  and  the  thought  of  famines,  and  bear 
in  mind  that  we  are  now  in  Agra,  though  still  on 
the  Jumna  Eiver,  and  that  we  are  soon  to  look  upon 
something  more  wonderful  than  we  have  seen  any- 
where. It  is  the  most  beautiful  building  in  the  whole 
world." 

[78] 


SIGHTSEEING  IN  AGRA 

' '  The  Taj  Mahal ! ' '  cried  Joe.  ' '  I  wish  we  could 
start  off  to  see  it  this  minute." 

''Not  yet,  my  dear  boy,"  said  Mr.  Andrews  with 
a  smile.  "  This  city  of  Agra  is  said  to  be  full  of  won- 
derful sights.  To  enjoy  them  best  we  ought  to 
leave  the  most  beautiful  one  till  last." 

Joe's  face  fell,  but  he  quickly  forgot  his  haste 
to  see  the  famous  Taj  Mahal  when  once  he  reached 
the  noble  fort  which  was  a  town  in  itself. 

1 *  The  great  Akbar  built  this  fort,  and  the  city  of 
Agra,  truly  his  city,  was  called  Akbarabad  in  his 
day,"  Nanko  explained  to  the  twins  as  they  stood 
looking  up  at  the  mighty  battlements  seventy  feet 
high. 

"It  would  take  me  nearly  as  long  to  walk  round 
these  walls  as  it  took  me  to  go  round  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem,"  said  Joe,  when  the  guide  explained 
that  the  distance  was  a  mile  and  a  half. 

When  the  twins  were  once  inside  the  walls  they 
could  scarcely  speak  for  amazement  at  the  number 
of  courts,  and  pavilions,  and  vast  halls  of  pure  white 
marble  exquisitely  carved. 

" Akbar 's  palace  and  the  Pearl  Mosque,"  Lucy 
said  afterwards,  ''were  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the 
buildings  in  the  fort,  I'm  sure." 

"I  agree  with  you,  my  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews. 
"I  am  likely  to  dream  of  them — of  the  palace  with 
its  dazzling  pinnacles  sheeted  with  gold,  and  the 
mosque  exquisite  in  carvings." 

[79] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"Somehow,"  said  Joe  slowly,  "I  didn't  enjoy  the 
sight  of  British  soldiers  in  their  modern  uniforms 
in  barracks  inside  the  fort.  .  I  wish  the  place  could 
be  kept  exactly  as  it  was  in  the  old  times. ' ' 

The  next  day  the  travelers  rode  out  to  Fatehpur, 
twenty-two  miles  from  Agra,  when  they  saw  the 
ruins  of  a  wonderful  city  the  Great  Mogul  had  once 
built. 

Lucy  afterwards  wrote  of  it:  "  'Every  building 
there  was  once  a  palace,'  so  I  have  read,  'and  every 
palace  was  a  dream  carved  in  red  sandstone ! '  The 
long  name  means  simply  'City  of  Victory,'  and  it 
was  built  in  honor  of  a  great  battle  fought  there  by 
Akbar  's  grandfather. ' ' 

After  this  trip  there  were  visits  to  the  bazaar, 
as  well  as  to  the  tomb  of  Akbar,  a  few  miles  from 
Agra. 

Last  of  all,  as  Mr.  Andrews  had  planned,  the 
travelers  started  out  one  bright  morning  to  ride  a 
mile  out  of  Agra  to  visit  the  most  beautiful  tomb 
that  was  ever  built. 

"A  tomb!"  exclaimed  Joe,  when  he  caught  the 
first  glimpse  of  the  wondrous  building.  "How 
strange  to  call  it  that!" 

"Yes,  a  tomb,"  his  uncle  replied,  "because  it  was 
built  to  contain  the  body  of  Shah  Jehan  's  wife.  He 
loved  her  so  dearly  that  he  determined  she  should 
have  a  monument  that  would  surpass  the  most 
beautiful  building  in  the  world." 

[80[ 


SIGHTSEEING  IN  AGRA 

And  now  the  travelers  entered  an  immense  garden 
where  graceful  trees  offered  shade,  gardens  filled 
with  rare  flowers  were  blooming,  and  many  foun- 
tains were  playing. 

Down  through  the  lovely  walk  Joe  and  Lucy  went 
softly,  hand  in  hand,  as  with  wonder-filled  eyes  they 
gazed  at  the  marvelous  building  ahead  of  them. 

It  was  of  the  purest  white  marble,  with  noble 
dome,  and  tall  towers  and  minarets  reaching  up- 
wards towards  the  clear  sky  above.  As  the  sun  beat 
down  upon  it,  it  was  dazzling  in  its  beauty. 

Nearer  and  nearer  moved  the  travelers  towards 
what  seemed  too  beautiful  to  be  true.  Surely  a 
fairy's  wand  must  have  called  it  forth,  and  not  the 
hands  of  men.  As  they  came  closer  the  beauty 
showed  itself  even  greater. 

And  now  the  guide  began  to  point  out  the  won- 
derful carvings  on  the  walls  and  pillars  and  door- 
ways. Marbles  of  different  colors  had  been  inlaid 
there,  and  verses  from  the  Koran,  the  sacred  book 
of  Mohammedans.  The  letters  forming  these  verses 
were  of  the  most  exquisite  shapes. 

At  last  the  travelers  entered  the  building  and 
looked  upon  the  white  marble  tombs  holding  the 
bodies  of  Shah  Jehan  and  his  loved  wife.  Precious 
stones  set  into  the  marble  made  it  gleam  with  daz- 
zling colors.  Around  the  tombs,  as  if  to  protect 
them,  stood  a  marble  balustrade  of  openwork  in 
which  countless  delicate  flowers  had  been  carved. 

[81] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"This  balustrade  alone  is  one  of  the  wonders  of 
the  world,"  the  guide  explained.  "And  now  you 
cannot  be  surprised  when  I  tell  you  that  twenty 
thousand  workmen  were  kept  busy  for  twenty  years 
before  the  Taj  Mahal  was  finished. 

"I  am  ready  to  leave  India  now,"  said  Mrs.  An- 
drews as  the  travelers  rode  homewards.  "After 
what  I  have  seen  to-day  everything  else  will  seem 
unimportant." 


[82] 


CHAPTER  XI 

A   TIGER   STORY 

/'M  not  ready  to  go  out  of  this  country  yet,"  Joe 
said  that  evening  after  the  return  to  the  hotel. 
He  was  thinking  of  his  aunt's  words  of  the  after- 
noon. 

"Why  not,  Joe?"  Mr.  Andrews'  eyes  twinkled 
because  he  had  guessed  what  was  in  the  boy's  mind. 

"I  haven't  seen  enough  elephants  yet,  though  we 
have  met  a  few  since  we  left  Kashmir.  I  haven't 
had  a  ride  on  one,  either.  And  I  haven't  seen  or 
heard  much  about  tigers." 

1 ' Poor  boy!  Perhaps  you'd  feel  better  if  they 
kept  a  chained  tiger  in  the  hotel  for  travelers  to 
look  at."  Mrs.  Andrews  laughed. 

"I  doubt  if  you'll  leave  the  country  quite  satisfied 
without  going  on  a  tiger  hunt."  Mr.  Andrews 
chuckled. 

"If  I  could  talk  with  somebody  who  had  been  tiger 
hunting  it  wouldn't  be  so  bad."  Joe  grinned. 

"Hm!  I  have  it,"  said  Mr.  Andrews.  "You 
remember  Colonel  Davidson,  Joe.  You  and  Lucy 
had  some  good  times  with  his  son  Charles  up  at 
Srinagar.  I  met  the  Colonel  several  times  there, 

[83] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

but  lie  was  pretty  busy  at  the  cantonment  and  did 
not  get  down  to  visit  us  on  our  houseboat." 

"But  what  has  Colonel  Davidson  to  do  with  tiger 
hunting?"  Joe  looked  puzzled. 

"A  good  deal.  He's  been  tiger  hunting  and  ele- 
phant hunting  too,  he  told  me.  He  explained  to  me, 
by  the  way,  that  most  of  the  tame  elephants  in  India 
belong  to  the  government  or  the  native  princes." 

"Well,  the  Colonel  is  coming  to  Agra  shortly  with 
his  wife  and  Charles.  He 's  to  be  off  duty  for  several 
weeks  and  promised  to  let  me  know  if  he  got  here 
before  we  were  to  leave.  I'll  ask  him  to  tell  us 
something  about  his  hunting  trips." 

Mr.  Andrews  had  scarcely  finished  the  last  sen- 
tence when  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door  by  the  bell- 
boy bringing  the  cards  of  visitors. 

"Colonel  Davidson!  I  declare!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Andrews,  looking  at  the  cards.  "His  wife  and  son 
with  him,  too ! ' ' 

"Hurrah!"  cried  Joe,  bounding  out  of  his  chair 
in  his  excitement,  while  Lucy  and  her  aunt  looked  as 
pleased  as  Joe  acted. 

A  few  minutes  afterwards  a  very  straight,  digni- 
fied-looking English  officer  was  shown  into  the  room, 
and  with  him  was  a  charming  lady  and  a  tall,  manly 
boy  of  fourteen. 

When  the  greetings  were  over  Colonel  Davidson 
explained  that  he  had  found  the  names  of  his  Ameri- 
can friends  in  the  hotel  register  on  his  arrival  that 

[84] 


A  TIGER  STORY 

morning.  He  had  business  to  attend  to,  however, 
which  kept  him  busy  several  hours. 

"Besides,"  he  added  with  a  kindly  look  at  the 
rosy-cheeked  twins,  "I  learned  at  the  office  that  you 
were  all  away  on  a  day's  outing,  so  I  thought  it 
would  be  pleasant  to  take  you  by  surprise  this  eve- 
ning, though  Charles  had  hard  work  to  wait  till 
now. ' ' 

After  that  there  was  much  talk  of  what  had  hap- 
pened to  both  families  since  the  meeting  in  Kashmir. 
Then  at  last,  after  what  seemed  an  endless  time  to 
Joe,  Mr.  Andrews  said,  "Colonel  Davidson,  this 
lively  nephew  of  mine  is  eager  to  hear  of  your  hunt- 
ing experiences.  The  thought  that  tigers  may  be 
roaming  in  a  jungle,  possibly  not  a  hundred  miles 
from  here,  makes  him  restless.  He'd  like  to  be 
away  on  a  tiger  hunt  this  minute,  I  don't  doubt." 

At  that  Joe  flushed  and  everybody  else  laughed. 

"My  dear  lad,  I  wonder  if  you  realize  how  much 
danger  there  is  in  hunting  a  tiger,"  said  the  Colonel 
kindly.  "And  yet  everybody  I  ever  knew  is  fond 
of  dangerous  adventures.  I  used  to  be,  myself. 

"Well,  well,  I'll  have  to  tell  you  about  my  first 
tiger  hunt.  I  was  a  young  man  then — it  was  soon 
after  I  came  here  from  England. 

"At  the  cantonment  where  I  was  stationed  stories 
kept  coming  to  us  of  a  man-eating  tiger  which  was 
killing  off  the  cattle  and  people  of  a  village  not  far 
away.  The  beast  had  grown  very  daring  after  his 

[85] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

first  taste  of  blood.  He  would  come  out  from  his 
lair  in  the  jungle  as  darkness  fell,  creep  with  never 
a  sound  to  the  village,  and  watch  for  his  prey  when 
the  people  came  to  the  spring  to  get  water. ' ' 

"Many  victims — over  forty,  I  believe — had  been 
carried  off  for  the  man-eater's  feasts  when  I  first 
heard  of  him.  The  last  one  was  a  little  girl  about 
the  age  of  Lucy.  She  had  gone  to  the  spring,  just  as 
the  sun  was  setting,  to  get  water  for  her  sick  mother. 
Alas!  Bloody  marks  near  the  spring  afterwards 
told  of  what  happened,  for  the  little  girl  never  re- 
turned to  her  home.  No  doubt  the  tiger  had  sprung 
upon  her  unawares,  had  seized  her  throat  in  his 
sharp  teeth,  and  with  a  jerk  had  twisted  her  neck, 
and  so,  we  hope,  ended  her  life  without  long  suffer- 
ing." 

By  this  time  Lucy's  teeth  were  almost  chattering. 

The  Colonel,  seeing  the  look  of  horror  in  her  face, 
went  on  quickly,  "I  think  perhaps  I  had  better  not 
repeat  some  of  the  other  stories  that  were  brought 
us  by  the  frightened  natives." 

"Of  course,  you  began  at  once  to  get  ready  for  a 
hunt  after  that  tiger,"  burst  out  Joe  excitedly. 

' '  Of  course. ' '    The  Colonel  smiled. 

"There  were  two  ways  in  which  he  might  have 
been  followed  up,"  he  went  on.  "One  was  for  one 
or  two  men  who  were  trained  hunters  to  seek  the 
spring  in  the  daytime,  climb  trees  near  by,  and  stay 
up  there  through  the  night  watching  and  ready  to 

[86] 


A  TIGER  STORY 

shoot  if  the  beast  drew  near.  A  freshly  killed 
buffalo  placed  on  the  ground  near  by  would  be  a 
help  as  the  smell  of  it  would  lure  the  tiger. 

'  *  The  other  way  was  the  one  we  chose.  A  number 
of  us,  riding  elephants  which  had  been  trained  for 
hunting,  went  into  the  jungle,  seeking  the  tiger  in 
his  home. 

"It  was  a  fine  spring  morning  when  we  started 
out,"  continued  the  Colonel.  "  And  when  we  reached 
the  jungle  we  found  it  a  beautiful  sight.  Trees  and 
bushes  were  in  blossom,  and  the  air  was  fragrant 
with  their  sweet  odors ;  clumps  of  bamboos,  waving 
their  feathery  heads,  were  often  so  close  to  the  sides 
of  our  elephants  that  we  could  have  reached  out  our 
hands  to  pluck  them.  Ah !  but  in  the  long  grass  be- 
low were  lurking  deadly  serpents,  without  doubt, 
for  the  jungle  is  the  playground  of  the  hooded  cobra 
and  the  huge  boa-constrictor — yes,  and  of  a  tiny, 
harmless-looking  serpent  whose  sting  is  as  deadly 
as  the  cobra's." 

Both  Lucy  and  her  aunt  shivered. 

"I  know  how  the  boa-constrictor  kills,"  said 
Charles  as  his  father  stopped  for  a  moment  to  rest. 
"His  body  is  almost  as  thick  as  my  waist,  and  a 
grown-up  boa-constrictor  is  sometimes  longer  than 
this  room — over  twenty  feet — and  so  he  just  coils 
himself  round  and  round  his  prey  till  the  life  is 
crushed  out  of  it," 

[87] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"But  let  us  go  on  with  the  tiger  hunt,"  said  the 
Colonel. 

"Yes,  yes!"  cried  Joe  eagerly. 

"With  a  smile  the  story-teller  continued :  ' '  Several 
hours  of  careful  searching  went  on,  the  elephants 
picking  their  way  with  great  care,  till  at  last  we 
found  ourselves  on  the  track  of  the  beast  we  were 
after. 

"Aha !  There  he  was  peering  out  at  us  with  sharp 
green  eyes  from  the  midst  of  a  thicket  of  bamboo. 
After  him  we  charged,  surrounding  the  thicket  and 
driving  him  out  into  the  open. 

* '  Now  for  the  fight  in  earnest !  It  was  not  an  easy 
one,  for  many  a  bullet  hit  him  without  causing  a 
deadly  wound,  though  he  must  have  begun  to  suffer 
horribly.  And  now  he  turned  with  a  frightful  roar, 
and  with  a  furious  leap  flung  himself  at  the  back  of 
the  elephant  I  was  riding. 

"Not  a  moment  to  spare  now!  If  the  bullets  of 
my  companions  had  not  been  instant  in  their  work, 
my  elephant's  flesh  would  have  been  torn  open  by 
the  beast's  wicked  teeth  and  claws,  and  I — well,  I 
wouldn't  be  here  to-night  telling  the  story. 

"It  was  my  good  fortune  to  escape,  however,  as 
the  man-eater  shortly  gave  his  death  cry,  and  the 
village  where  he  had  wrought  such  harm  was  made 
safe  from  his  attacks." 

Lucy  drew  a  sigh  of  relief. 

The  Colonel,  noticing  it,  said,  "Enough  of  tigers 

[88] 


A  TIGER  STORY 

for  to-night.  Suppose,  before  I  leave  you,  I  give 
you  something  pleasanter  to  think  about — wild  ele- 
phants, the  kings  of  the  jungle,  for  instance." 

"I'd  like  ever  so  much  to  know  how  they  are 
caught,"  said  Joe  promptly.  "Did  you  ever  take 
part  in  an  elephant  hunt?" 

"Once.  It  was  in  the  heart  of  India.  Elephants 
are  seldom  shot  at.  You  see,  they  are  worth  too 
much  to  be  killed.  So  an  immense  V-shaped  enclo- 
sure sometimes  a  mile  across  at  the  widest  part  is 
built,  and  the  hunters,  riding  tame  elephants,  drive 
the  wild  ones  into  this  trap. 

"As  soon  as  they  are  inside  the  opening  is  closed 
up. 

"Now  is  the  time  for  the  tame  elephants  to  give 
the  most  valuable  help.  Three  of  them,  perhaps, 
guided  by  their  drivers,  will  close  in  around  one  of 
the  captives  and  slowly  drive  him  up  beside  a  stout 
tree. 

* '  One  of  the  men,  watching  his  chance,  now  slides 
down  to  the  ground  and  casts  a  stout  noose  about 
a  leg  of  the  wild  elephant.  He  must  be  quick  and 
careful,  else  the  beast  might  turn  upon  him  and 
trample  him  to  death. 

"Next,  he  must  throw  the  rope  around  the  tree 
and  tighten  it  as  much  as  possible.  Still  other  ropes 
must  follow  to  add  to  the  strength  of  the  bond,  for 
the  elephant  will  use  all  his  tremendous  power  to 
break  away  if  possible." 

[89] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"What  then?"  Joe  asked  quickly. 

"Then  comes  the  taming,  which  is  often  quite 
easy.  The  hunters  stay  with  their  captive  as  much 
as  possible  and  talk  kindly  to  him  so  he  will  become 
used  to  having  people  about  him.  They  feed  him 
the  dainties  he  likes  best,  while  they  dare  to  pet  him. 
Before  many  days  he  becomes  gentle  and  friendly, 
and  ready  to  be  taught  to  be  useful  like  the  tame  ele- 
phants around  him. ' ' 

"Have  you  seen  any  other  wild  creatures  of  In- 
dia?" said  Joe,  as  the  Colonel  stopped  speaking. 

"Plenty  of  them,  my  lad — crocodiles  in  some  of 
the  rivers,  wild  dogs  that  wander  in  packs  in  the 
mountain  lands  of  the  north,  and  wild  hogs,  the  hunt- 
ing of  which  is  great  sport.  Yes,  and  I  once  came 
across  a  rhinoceros  in  the  swamps  along  the  Brahma- 
putra River.  Strange  to  say,  however,  in  my  hunts  I 
never  chanced  to  meet  panthers,  though  there  are 
many  of  them  in  the  jungles.  They  are  terrible  foes 
after  being  wounded.  They  are  feared  by  the  people 
in  lonely  villages  almost  as  much  as  the  tiger,  though 
they  are  a  good  deal  smaller. ' ' 

"Really,  we  must  not  stay  any  longer.  It  is  get- 
ting late  for  these  children  to  be  up,"  broke  in  Mrs. 
Davidson. 

As  the  callers  rose  to  go,  the  Colonel  patted  Lucy's 
shoulder,  saying,  "My  dear  little  girl,  when  you  go 
to  sleep  to-night  forget  the  tigers  and  panthers  and 
cobras  I've  been  talking  about,  and  think  only  of 

[90] 


A  f  IGEft  STORY 

graceful  deer  and  antelopes  such  as  I  have  seen  skip- 
ping about  among  the  thickets  of  bamboo.  There 
are  some  beautiful  creatures  in  the  jungles  as  well 
as  fierce  and  dangerous  ones." 


[91] 


CHAPTEE  XII 

A  WONDEBFUL  ADVENTURE 

WOULD  you  like  to  hear  it,  Lucy?  I've  been  at 
it  the  whole  afternoon."  Joe  laid  down  his 
pen  and  stretched  himself. 

" Of  course,  I'll  try  to  keep  still  and  be  enter- 
tained," Lucy  laughed.  "But  to  whom  have  you 
been  writing?" 

'  'Arthur  Freeman  up  in  Jerusalem.  I'm  ashamed 
of  myself  for  waiting  so  long,  but  how  can  a  fellow 
write  many  letters  when  he 's  kept  busy  seeing  things 
as  steadily  as  I  have  been!  We've  only  been  back 
here  in  Agra  a  day  and  a  half,  and  to-morrow  we 
start  for  Benares." 

"I'm  waiting  to  hear,"  was  all  Lucy  answered  as 
she  settled  herself  among  the  pillows  on  the  couch 
and  shut  her  eyes. 

*  *  Hm !   Well,  here  goes, ' '  said  Joe  as  he  began. 

"Dear  Arthur:  I  often  think  of  you  up  there  in 
Palestine,  and  wish  you  could  be  here  with  us  in  In- 
dia seeing  the  most  wonderful  things  that  are  get- 
ting to  seem  common  because  there  are  so  many  of 
them. 

[93] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"But,  Arthur,  old  boy,  no  place  we  have  visited 
has  equalled  the  last  one.  As  I  tell  you  about  it,  I 
hope  your  eyes  won't  get  green  with  envy.  Well, 
we've  been  to  Jaipur.  It's  the  most  Indian  place  in 
India,  I  guess.  Why,  my  head  is  this  minute  so  full 
of  elephants  and  camels,  monkeys  and  parrots,  danc- 
ing girls,  beggars  and  jugglers  that  I  can't  write 
straight. 

"But  I  must  go  back  to  the  beginning.  Uncle  Ben 
promised  Lucy  and  me  weeks  ago  that  we  should 
visit  a  real  Indian  city,  where  we  should  see  the  life 
of  the  natives  on  every  hand,  with  plenty  of  ele- 
phants thrown  in.  He  knew  that  there  are  such 
cities  in  the  territory  of  Rajputana,  where  native 
rulers  still  hold  their  courts,  but  he  hadn't  decided 
just  which  one  to  choose. 

"Then  Colonel  Davidson  proposed  Jaipur.  The 
Colonel  is  one  of  our  new  friends  and  is  ever  so 
kind,  though  a  stern  look  comes  into  his  eyes  now 
and  then  that  makes  me  feel  I'd  want  to  obey  him 
if  I  were  one  of  his  soldiers. 

"  'I'm  going  shortly  to  Jaipur  to  see  the  English 
Eesident,'  the  Colonel  told  Uncle  Ben,  'and  the  Ra- 
jah (that's  the  title  of  a  native  prince)  is  a  good 
friend  of  mine.  We've  been  hunting  together  more 
than  once.  Perhaps  I  can  get  an  invitation  for  you 
to  visit  him  at  his  palace.  You  must  certainly  see 
the  sights  of  Jaipur  at  any  rate.' 

"I  guess,  before  I  go  any  farther,  I'd  better  ex- 

[94] 


A  WONDERFUL  ADVENTURE 

plain  that  in  every  place  where  a  native  prince  Still 
rules  in  India,  there 's  somebody  called  the  Resident, 
who  is  chosen  by  the  English  government  to  live  in 
the  place.  He  is  the  real  ruler  behind  the  throne, 
as  folks  say. 

"Well,  Uncle  Ben  and  Aunt  Nell  were  as  pleased 
as  could  be  at  Colonel  Davidson's  proposal.  As  for 
us  twins,  we  actually  danced  for  joy.  We  could 
hardly  wait  for  the  day  to  come  when  we  should 
reach  the  strange,  rich,  queer,  wonderful,  royal 
city  of  Jaipur.  (How's  that  for  a  description  to 
start  off  with?) 

* '  Colors !  I  thought  I  had  seen  them  a-plenty  be- 
fore, but  now  imagine  big,  two-storied  houses  all 
of  a  rosy  pink,  with  lace-like  windows,  latticed  of 
course;  with  side  balconies  jutting  out  over  wide 
streets  and  with  monkeys  on  the  roofs  staring  down 
at  you. 

"And  then  picture  to  yourself  the  crowds  below, 
dressed  in  gorgeous  tints  that  vie  in  color  with  the 
tails  of  a  flock  of  peacocks  I  saw  standing  near  one 
of  the  houses.  Look !  Here  comes  a  sacred  bullock 
wandering  around  at  his  pleasure.  Behind  him, 
with  stately  tread,  marches  an  elephant  with  fore- 
head painted  in  a  gay  pattern,  and  with  a  crimson 
covering  reaching  far  down  over  the  sides  of  his 
huge  body.  In  the  howdah  on  the  elephant's  back 
sits  the  driver,  who  touches  the  animal  now  and  then 
with  a  sort  of  spear  to  make  him  go  where  he  wishes. 

[95] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"Notice,  if  you  will,  the  bazaar  where  rich  laces 
and  gold-embroidered  cloths  and  jewelry  set  with 
precious  stones  are  spread  out  to  tempt  us  to  buy. 

"Here  comes  a  train  of  camels — cross,  sulky-look- 
ing beasts  they  are,  and  now  we  notice  a  group  of 
dancing  girls  with  gauzy  scarfs  wrapped  about  their 
waists  and  with  many  golden  bracelets  and  anklets 
and  earrings  and  finger  rings.  And  yes!  Among 
the  crowd  of  gayly  dressed,  dark-skinned  people,  we 
discover  a  beggar.  He  is  unshaven,  dirty  and 
ragged.  He  carries  a  bowl  in  one  hand.  As  he 
reaches  the  street  corner  he  stops  a  moment  to  rest. 
A  woman  steps  up  to  him  and  puts  a  few  grains  of 
rice  in  the  bowl.  She  believes  she  is  'making  merit' 
by  feeding  him — that  is,  that  God  will  look  more 
kindly  upon  her  for  her  gift. 

"The  man  may  not  have  been  a  beggar  always. 
Perhaps  he  was  once  rich,  and  lived  in  a  fine  house 
with  many  servants  to  wait  on  him.  But  one  day  he 
decided  to  give  up  his  comfortable  life  and  become 
a  beggar  to  wander  around  the  country  and  receive 
the  food  needed  to  keep  him  alive  from  the  strangers 
whom  he  should  meet. 

"Arthur,  only  think  of  it!  There  are  thousands 
of  beggars  in  India,  who  believe  they  will  be  re- 
warded by  God  for  living  as  they  do.  Isn't  it  a 
shame  that  they  should  have  such  a  belief1? 

"Oh,  but  let  us  go  on  with  our  sightseeing,  be- 
cause a  procession  of  elephants  is  drawing  near. 

[96] 


A  WONDERFUL  ADVENTURE 

Two  by  two  they  advance  with  stately  tread,  while 
the  gayly  dressed  drivers  seated  in  richly  decorated 
howdahs  direct  them  by  cries  or  by  the  prodding  of 
their  spears. 

"What  nice,  grand-looking  creatures  the  ele- 
phants are!  Rich  draperies  of  satin  and  velvet, 
some  of  the  mheavily  gilded,  hang  far  down  over 
their  sides.  Heavy  silver  chains  hang  about  their 
necks.  They  scarcely  turn  their  heads  as  they  pass 
the  crowds  gathered  on  both  sides  of  the  street  to 
watch  them. 

"Now,  at  last,  Arthur,  you  shall  hear  where  we 
stayed  during  our  visit  to  Jaipur.  With  the  English 
Resident,  to  be  sure,  who  entertained  us  royally! 

"The  best  part  of  all  was  the  day  spent  at  the 
Rajah's  palace.  Yes,  sir!  I've  been  entertained  by 
a  real  live  Prince,  and  a  Hindu  prince  too ! 

'  *  On  the  morning  of  that  wonderful  day  you  may 
just  believe  Lucy  and  I  were  awake  with  the  birds — 
to  be  exact,  with  the  first  words  of  a  starling  in  the 
next  room  to  mine.  (Here  in  India  people  some- 
times cut  the  tongues  of  starlings  so  they  can  learn 
to  talk  like  parrots.) 

"Well,  we  twins  could  hardly  wait  till  ten  o'clock, 
the  time  set  for  our  start  for  the  palace.  But  it 
came  at  last,  and  with  it  appeared  two  magnificent 
elephants  in  front  of  the  Residency.  They  had  been 
sent  by  the  Rajah  to  take  us  to  the  Palace !  What 
do  you  think  of  that?  Aren't  we  the  most  fortunate 

[97] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

children  that  were  ever  born  in  the  United  States?  I 
should  say! 

"If  you  could  only  have  seen  those  elephants, 
Arthur!  Their  trappings  were  simply  gorgeous, 
while  the  howdah  in  which  we  were  to  sit  had  crim- 
son silk  curtains  embroidered  with  gold. 

' '  The  sport  came  when  we  mounted  the  elephants. 
First  they  slowly  bent  their  big  legs  and  knelt  down. 
Then  ladders  were  placed  against  their  sides,  and 
up  these  we  climbed  to  our  lofty  seats  above.  The 
drivers,  sitting  astride  the  elephants'  necks,  gave 
their  commands,  and  the  creatures  rose  to  their  feet 
and  moved  off  with  us. 

"Lucy  said  afterwards  that  her  head  was  dizzy 
for  a  few  minutes.  She  felt  so  high  up,  and  people 
on  the  ground  below  looked  so  far  away.  Besides, 
elephants  swing  from  side  to  side  as  they  walk,  and 
that  I  suppose  was  what  really  made  Lucy  a  little 
light-headed. 

"Arthur,  I  never  expect  to  feel  so  grand  in  my 
life  again  as  I  did  during  that  ride  to  the  Palace. 
When  we  arrived  there  I  hated  to  get  down  on  com- 
mon ground  again.  It  wasn't  so  common  after  all, 
because  everything  about  the  Palace  is  magnificent. 
There  are  several  buildings,  each  one  built  around 
a  beautiful  marble  court.  The  guest-house  where 
we  were  entertained  was  furnished  with  handsome 
rugs  and  hangings,  and  there  were  chairs  for  west- 

[98] 


A  WONDERFUL  ADVENTURE 

ern  visitors  to  sit  in.  The  natives,  you  know,  pre- 
fer to  squat  on  the  rugs. 

"Such  a  feast  of  good  things  to  eat  we  had  in  the 
guest-house!  I  haven't  time  to  tell  you  about  the 
delicious  dishes  that  were  served  us.  The  Rajah 
didn't  dine  with  us,  however.  Being  a  Hindu,  what- 
ever he  eats  must  be  served  in  a  certain  way. 

"After  the  feast  was  over  I  was  allowed  to  go 
with  Uncle  Ben  and  the  Resident  to  visit  the  Rajah 
in  his  own  apartment,  while  Aunt  Nell  and  Lucy 
were  taken  by  the  Resident's  wife  to  call  upon  the 
ladies  of  the  Rajah's  household  in  the  Zenana. 

"What  do  you  suppose  interested  me  most  in  my 
visit  to  the  Rajah?  Not  the  attendants  who  stood 
about  in  gorgeous  robes  embroidered  in  gold,  and 
with  weapons  whose  handles  were  studded  with  pre- 
cious stones.  No,  not  even  the  noble  looking  Rajah 
himself,  dressed  in  the  most  princely  style.  It  was 
the  skins  of  wild  animals  hanging  about  the  walls  of 
one  of  the  halls  which  we  entered — best  of  all,  the 
skins  of  tigers  and  leopards  which  had  been  killed 
by  the  Rajah  and  his  followers  in  their  hunting 
parties.  What  sport  he  must  have  had ! 

'  *  My  hand  is  getting  tired,  so  I  must  close,  thougE 
I  haven't  told  you  a  word  about  the  ride  we  had 
the  next  day  from  Jaipur  to  Gulta,  one  of  the  holy 
cities  of  these  people.  The  strangest  thing  about  it 
was  that  there  seem  to  be  more  monkeys  than  people 
in  Gulta.  They  came  swarming  about  us,  opening 

[99] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

our  hands  to  see  if  we  had  any  food  for  them,  grin- 
ning and  jabbering  all  the  time.  One  old  fellow 
actually  wound  his  tail  about  my  leg. 

"  There,  not  another  word  to-day.  So  long.  Your 
old  chum,  JOB." 

"The  letter  is  ever  so  good,"  said  Lucy.  "Only" 
— her  forehead  puckered — ' '  you  didn  't  tell  anything 
about  my  visit  to  the  Zenana." 

"That's  so.  But  you  see,  I  got  tired.  Why  don't 
you  add  a  postscript  yourself?"  As  Joe  spoke  he 
held  out  a  sheet  of  paper  to  his  sister. 

Lucy's  face  brightened.  Taking  the  paper,  she 
began  at  once  to  write. 

"Dear  Arthur,"  so  the  postscript  ran,  "I  think 
Joe's  description  of  the  visit  to  the  Palace  wouldn't 
be  complete  without  a  picture  of  the  Zenana  where 
Aunt  Nell  and  I  spent  the  afternoon  with  the  ladies 
of  the  Rajah's  household.  They  were  dressed  in 
the  most  elegant  garments  I  ever  saw  on  women 
in  my  life !  And  the  jewels !  They  hung  about  their 
necks,  their  ears,  their  arms  and  their  ankles — yes, 
and  their  toes! 

"And  yet,  with  all  those  riches,  I  pitied  them 
because  they  never  go  out  of  doors  unless  they  are 
veiled,  while  the  very  windows  through  which  they 
look  are  screened  with  lattice-work  so  that  no  one 
outside  can  look  in  upon  them.  Isn't  it  queer  that 

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A  WONDERFUL  ADVENTURE 

women  of  high  caste  think  they  must  keep  their  faces 
hidden  ? 

"Yet  the  ladies  in  the  Rajah's  Zenana  seemed 
happy.  They  told  Aunt  Nell  they  have  ever  so  many 
good  times,  even  though  they  stay  shut  up  most  of 
the  time — like  prisoners,  I  think. 

* '  While  we  were  there  some  dancing  girls  in  shim- 
mery  gauze  came  in  and  danced  as  gracefully  as 
fairies.  Then  there  was  music  made  on  queer-look- 
ing instruments,  and  some  girls  came  in  and  sang. 
And  there  were  refreshments — cooling  drinks  and 
cakes  and  candies.  It  was  all  very  pleasant,  but  I 
was  glad  when  I  was  out  in  the  fresh  air  again,  be- 
cause I  could  feel  free  once  more. 

"This  is  a  long  postscript,  isn't  it? 

"Your  friend,  LUCY." 

As  the  little  girl  laid  down  her  pen  there  came  a 
call  from  the  next  room:  "Twins,  dear,  you  must 
get  ready  at  once.  "We  are  to  start  for  Cawnpore  in 
an  hour." 

"All  right,  Aunt  Nell.  We  won't  keep  you  wait- 
ing," answered  Joe,  who  had  been  lazily  watching 
his  sister  as  she  wrote. 


[101] 


CHAPTER  XIII 

STRANGE   SIGHTS  ON  THE  GANGES 

I'M  glad  Uncle  Ben  followed  Colonel  Davidson's 
advice  and  let  us  see  something  of  the  Mutiny 
Country,"  said  Joe. 

"Ye-e-s,"  replied  Lucy  slowly.  "But  it  made  me 
feel  sad  to  look  at  the  places  where  people  suffered 
so  terribly.  All  through  the  country  we've  been 
visiting,  Uncle  Ben  told  us,  the  native  troops  once 
rose  up  against  the  English.  But  the  most  dread- 
ful things  of  all  happened  at  Cawnpore  and  Luck- 
now.  ' ' 

"I  should  say!"  Joe's  eyes  flashed.  "I  can't 
think  of  anything  that  could  have  been  worse  than 
the  Indian  leader  having  all  the  white  women  and 
children  whom  he  got  in  his  power  killed,  and  their 
bodies  thrown  into  a  well.  That  was  at  Cawnpore, 
you  know. ' ' 

"The  monument  the  English  afterwards  set  up 
there  is  beautiful,"  said  Lucy.  "I  stood  looking  at 
the  white  marble  angel  who  seemed  to  be  rising  over 
the  well,  for  a  long  time.  She  seemed  to  say,  'The 
poor  people  who  were  massacred  here  are  now  free 
and  happy.'  " 

[103] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"Pm  glad  we  saw  the  place  where  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence  lies  buried  at  Lucknow,"  said  Joe. 
"What  a  brave  man  he  was!  If  it  hadn't  been  for 
him  the  English  garrison  there  couldn't  have  held 
out.  He  was  wise  as  well  as  brave.  Owing  to  him, 
the  defense  held  out  till  help  came.  But  he  was 
killed  before  that  happened." 

"What  a  fine  inscription  on  the  slab  at  his  grave! 
It  told  the  whole  story."  Lucy  spoke  thoughtfully. 

"It  certainly  did,"  cried  Joe.  "  'Here  lies  Henry 
Lawrence,  who  tried  to  do  his  duty,'  those  were  the 
words.  Uncle  Ben  said  no  praise  could  be  better 
than  that,  and  I  think  so  too." 

"When  I  saw  the  Residency  at  Lucknow,"  Lucy 
went  on,  "I  could  scarcely  believe  that  a  small  num- 
ber of  English  soldiers  stationed  in  that  house  with 
hundreds  of  white  women  and  children  in  their  care, 
were  able  to  hold  out  for  six  months  against  the 
fierce  native  troops.  Aunt  Nell  said  it  seemed  a 
miracle  to  her." 

"But  at  last  the  uprising  was  put  down — that  was 
more  than  sixty  years  ago,  and  there's  never  been 
anything  like  it  since,"  said  Joe  quickly. 

"Let's  look  at  the  map  and  see  how  we  came  here 
to  Benares,"  went  on  Joe.  "Look!  There's  Agra 
up  there  on  the  Jumna  River.  Then  we  crossed  that 
stretch  of  fertile  country  and  came  to  Cawnpore  on 
the  Ganges.  After  that  we  went  to  the  big  hand- 
some city  of  Lucknow,  which  looks  so  prosperous  to- 

[104] 


STRANGE  SIGHTS  ON  THE  GANGES 

day;  then  down  to  Allahabad,  where  the  Jumna 
pours  its  mighty  waters  into  the  Ganges.  And 
presto !  Here  we  are  now  in  the  sacred  city  of  the 
Hindus  with  fresh  adventures  ahead  of  us." 

' '  Before  sunrise  to-morrow  morning  we  leave  this 
hotel  to  meet  with  them,"  merrily  said  Mr.  An- 
drews, who  had  just  entered  the  room.  ' '  Nanko  and 
I  have  just  been  down  to  the  river  to  hire  a  barge 
for  what  I  promise  you  will  be  an  interesting  trip. ' ' 

That  evening  Joe  and  Lucy  were  so  excited  think- 
ing of  what  was  to  come  next  day  that  they  both  de- 
clared it  would  be  hard  work  getting  to  sleep.  But 
somehow  or  other  their  eyes  closed  as  readily  as 
ever,  and  they  knew  nothing  more  till  they  heard 
knocking  at  their  doors,  while  at  the  same  time  their 
uncle  called, '  *  Time  to  get  up  for  a  boat  ride  on  the 
Ganges." 

It  was  still  dark  when  the  travelers  were  eating 
their  hasty  breakfast.  But  by  the  time  they  left 
the  hotel  a  faint  streak  of  dawn  had  appeared  in  the 
east. 

Down  through  the  narrow  streets  of  the  city  they 
hurried,  at  first  in  dim  light,  but  all  at  once  the  sky 
was  aglow  with  the  beauty  of  the  rising  sun. 

Already  the  streets  were  alive  with  noisy  people 
bound  for  the  temples  or  the  river.  They  were  clad 
in  robes  of  every  color  of  the  rainbow — lovely  pinks 
and  yellows  and  purples — and  the  women  were 
loaded  with  jewelry.  Many  carried  trays  holding 

[106] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

flowers  and  coins  and  sandal  wood  for  the  goddess 
Ganga;  others  had  stone  jars  which  they  would  fill 
with  water  from  their  sacred  river. 

"Look  at  the  women  ahead  of  you,"  Nanko  bade 
Joe  in  a  low  voice,  "and  notice  the  tiny  gilded  jars 
in  their  hands.  You  can  scarcely  see  the  jars  be- 
cause of  the  jasmine  blossoms  about  them.  These, 
too,  will  soon  be  cast  into  the  waters  as  offerings 
of  the  faithful." 

A  few  minutes  afterwards  our  travelers  had 
reached  the  river  and  taken  their  places  in  the  barge 
which  Mr.  Andrews  had  engaged.  Then,  with  the 
brilliant  red  and  gold  sunrise  making  the  sky  glo- 
rious, and  with  the  colors  reflected  in  the  water  be- 
low, the  barge  moved  downward  along  the  river. 

For  mile  after  mile  Joe  and  Lucy  sat  without  talk- 
ing, watching  the  strange  sights  on  the  shore.  All 
along  the  way  were  broad  stone  steps  reaching  down 
into  the  water,  and  these  steps  were  thus  early 
thronged  with  worshipers,  the  men  with  turbaned 
heads,  and  many  of  the  women  in  garments  of  glis- 
tening silk  or  delicate  muslin.  Many  of  the  wor- 
shipers had  already  gone  down  to  the  edge  of  the 
river  and  entered  the  water. 

As  the  men  did  so  they  threw  off  their  outer  gar- 
ments, while  the  women  gracefully  cast  bathing 
robes  over  their  shoulders  first,  and  then  took  off 
the  clothing  they  had  been  wearing,  while  thus  pro- 
tected. 

[106] 


As  Joe  and  Lucy  watched  the  bathers  they  no- 
ticed that  as  some  of  them  bent  over  the  water,  gar- 
lands of  flowers  which  they  had  worn  around  their 
necks  floated  up  over  their  heads,  and  then  away 
from  them  into  the  current  of  the  stream. 

"The  people  brought  those  garlands  as  gifts  to 
the  river,"  Nanko  explained  to  the  travelers. 

"Look!"  said  Lucy,  turning  her  eyes  back  to  the 
steps,  where  thousands  of  Hindus  were  now  stand- 
ing in  the  water  up  to  their  waists.  "The  women 
are  washing  their  garments  they  have  taken  off. ' ' 

"To  let  the  sacred  stream  make  them  pure,  as 
well  as  their  owners,"  said  Nanko. 

"Lucy,"  said  Joe  the  next  instant,  "I  wonder  if 
you  have  noticed  what  the  people  do  when  the  bath 
is  over.  They  go  back  up  the  steps  a  little  ways 
and  sit  down  under  those  enormous  gilded  umbrellas 
to  pray  and  read.  What  are  they  reading,  Nanko?" 

' '  Their  sacred  books.  And  after  a  while  they  will 
go  back  into  the  city  and  visit  every  one  of  the 
more  than  five  hundred  temples.  Most  of  the  people 
are  pilgrims  from  far  away  who  will  return  home 
happy  and  content  to  die  after  what  they  have 
done. ' ' 

"That  explains  why  so  many  of  the  bathers  are 
old  men  and  women,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews,  who  had 
been  listening. 

"But  young  people  and  children  come  here,  too," 
replied  Nanko.  ' '  See !  There  is  a  boy  with  his  little 

'[107] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

bride. "  He  motioned  towards  a  pier  which  reached 
out  into  the  water,  where  a  wedding  party  had  gath- 
ered. 

"She,  a  bride!"  exclaimed  Lucy.  "Why,  she 
can't  be  over  six  or  seven,  and  the  boy  isn't  much 
older." 

"Child  marriages  are  common  in  this  country," 
said  Nanko  sadly.  "After  such  little  folks  as  those 
are  married,  however,  they  go  back  to  their  parents 
to  stay  till  the  boy  is  about  fifteen,  when  he  and  his 
young  wife  begin  to  live  together  in  their  own 
home. 

"But  notice,  please,  these  children  on  the  pier," 
he  went  on.  "The  priest  has  already  prayed,  and 
water  and  cocoanut  oil  have  been  poured  out.  Now 
the  little  ones  sit  hand  in  hand,  looking  out  upon 
the  water  and  worshiping  it. ' ' 

"They  are  bound  together  by  a  red  scarf,"  said 
Lucy  in  a  low  tone,  as  the  barge  was  now  quite  close 
to  shore. 

"Oho!"  said  Joe  under  his  breath.  He  had  no- 
ticed that  rice  and  some  red  powder  were  now  being 
sprinkled  over  the  children. 

As  the  wedding  party  went  its  way  the  barge 
moved  on. 

"What  is  that  man  doing?"  Joe  now  asked.  He 
had  just  caught  sight  of  a  man  on  the  shore  pouring 
ashes  out  of  a  small  metal  box  into  the  river. 

"He  is  giving  the  ashes  of  some  loved  one  to  the 
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STRANGE  SIGHTS  ON  THE  GANGES 

Ganges,"  Nanko  explained.  "He  may  have  trav- 
eled many  miles  to  do  this  deed  of  love.  Hindus 
always  burn  the  bodies  of  their  dead,  as  they  believe 
that  fire  purifies. 

' '  Just  ahead  of  us  you  will  see  smoke  rising  from 
big  fires.  Those  are  the  burning  ghats  where  dead 
bodies  are  being  consumed  by  the  flames.  A  faith- 
ful Hindu  is  happy  if  he  is  rich  enough  to  know 
that  when  he  dies  his  body  can  be  brought  here  to 
be  burned  and  the  ashes  cast  into  the  Ganges." 

And  now  the  barge  turned  backwards  towards  the 
place  from  which  the  travelers  had  started  out. 

At  every  moment  there  was  a  new  sight  to  look 
upon — there  were  family  parties  celebrating  some 
glad  happening  in  the  household.  Here  was  a 
woman,  with  a  baby  astride  her  hip,  filling  a  jar 
with  water.  There  was  a  man  casting  sandal  wood 
and  gay  blossoms  into  the  stream.  And  everywhere 
along  the  shore  was  the  crowd  of  bathers  moving  up 
and  down  the  steps,  the  brown  bodies  of  the  men  and 
the  jeweled  arms  and  feet  of  the  women  glistening 
in  the  sunlight,  while  the  sound  of  bells  and  tom- 
toms from  the  temples  rose  above  the  shouts  of  the 
people  below. 

"I  never!"  was  all  Joe  managed  to  say  as  the 
party  left  the  barge  and  found  themselves  once  more 
in  one  of  the  narrow  city  streets. 

"We  will  next  visit  the  Monkey  Temple — and  the 
[109] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

Cow  Temple, ' '  said  Mr.  Andrews,  trying  to  look  se- 
rious. 

"The — what?"  Lucy  and  her  aunt  gasped  at  the 
idea  of  temples  with  such  names. 

"What  I  said,"  was  the  laughing  answer.  "Let 
us  follow  Nanko  and  see  if  I  have  not  spoken 
rightly." 

When  Joe  and  Lucy  found  themselves  soon  after- 
wards in  the  famous  temple  where  hundreds  of  mon- 
keys were  climbing  about  the  walls  of  the  building 
and  the  trees  around  it,  and  when  they  found  them 
playing  tag  with  each  other  inside  the  temple  itself, 
and  grinning  and  chattering  about  them  on  every 
hand,  the  twins'  eyes  fairly  bulged  with  astonish- 
ment. One  old  grandfather  monkey  had  perched  on 
Joe's  shoulders  and  poked  his  hairy  head  against 
the  boy's  mouth  before  he  had  taken  a  dozen  steps 
inside,  while  a  baby  monkey  leaped  upon  Lucy's 
hand  as  she  held  it  out  to  take  that  of  her  uncle. 

"See!"  said  Nanko  with  a  smile,  as  he  took  a 
handful  of  nuts  out  of  his  pocket  and  scattered 
them  among  the  monkeys  which  had  gathered 
around  him. 

A  few  minutes  in  this  temple  quite  satisfied  Mrs. 
Andrews,  so  the  travelers  soon  went  on  their  way 
to  visit  the  large  temple  where  the  Hindus  worship 
a  variety  of  cows  and  bulls  which  have  humps  on 
their  backs. 

"This  is  more  interesting,"  said  Mrs.  Andrews, 
[110] 


STRANGE  SIGHTS  ON  THE  GANGES 

as  she  watched  Hindus  offering  water  to  some  of 
the  bulls.  The  men  had  brought  the  water  to  these 
sacred  animals  from  the  Ganges. 

"Look,  look!"  Lucy  whispered  to  her  brother. 
She  had  just  discovered  some  gayly  dressed  girls 
with  wreaths  of  flowers  which  they  were  giving  the 
bulls  to  eat. 

That  evening  as  the  travelers  talked  over  the 
day's  outing  all  agreed  that  Benares  and  Jaipur 
were  the  strangest  cities  they  had  ever  visited. 


cm] 


CHAPTER  XIV 

IN  CALCUTTA 

I'M  glad  to  be  here  in  Calcutta,"  said  Lucy,  think- 
ing aloud. 

"Why,  little  niece?"  asked  Mr.  Andrews,  looking 
up  from  a  guide  book. 

"  Because  it  used  to  be  the  capital  of  India,  and  is 
still  the  largest  city,  and  so  many  things  come  here 
from  the  rich  lands  above  to  be  sent  all  over  the 
world — rice,  tobacco,  wheat,  indigo,  cotton,  jute, 
beautiful  silks,  the  shawls  of  Kashmir " 

"And  opium,"  put  in  Joe.  "Don't  forget  that, 
because  it  is  such  an  important  product  of  this  coun- 
try." 

"I  don't  like  to  think  about  opium,"  was  the  quick 
answer,  "because  it  does  the  people  who  use  it  so 
much  harm.  If  it  were  kept  only  for  medicine  to 
kill  pain  it  would  be  all  right." 

"In  that  case,  since  opium  is  so  powerful,  few 
poppy  fields  would  need  to  be  cultivated,"  said  Mr. 
Andrews. 

"I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  the  poppies  from 
which  opium  is  obtained  are  white, ' '  said  Lucy.  * '  In 
our  gardens  at  home  we  have  red  poppies." 

[113] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"And  I  was  surprised,"  said  Joe,  "to  discover 
that  opium  is  the  sap  which  flows  out  of  the  tiny 
cuts  the  farmers  make  in  the  seed  pods  of  the  poppy 
blossoms  while  they  are  in  flower.  Just  a  tiny  drop 
oozes  out  of  one  poppy.  But  it  is  precious  to  the 
farmer  who  scrapes  it  off  and  puts  it  in  a  jar  with 
thousands  of  other  drops  he  gets  in  the  same  way,  to 
be  afterwards  sold  to  the  government.*' 

"Lucy,  you  spoke  of  the  cotton  shipped  from  In- 
dia," said  her  uncle.  "You  may  not  know  that  it 
has  been  raised  here  for  many  hundreds  of  years — 
indeed,  before  it  was  known  in  England  and  the 
United  States." 

"I  never  knew  till  a  few  days  ago  what  jute  comes 
from,"  said  Lucy.  "Nanko  pointed  out  to  me  a 
clump  of  reeds  growing  in  the  sandy  soil  along  a 
river  bank.  'When  those  reeds  are  twice  as  tall  as 
I  am,'  he  said,  'they  will  be  ripe.  Then  men  will 
cut  them  down  and  put  them  in  water  to  lie  there  till 
the  outside  skin  has  rotted.  This  is  then  easily 
peeled  away  and  the  silky  fibers  inside  can  be  taken, 
made  into  thread,  and  shipped  in  bales  to  other 
lands.'  " 

"Indian  farms  aren't  much  like  ours  in  the  United 
States,"  said  Joe.  "How  the  workers  get  along 
with  the  poor  tools  they  have  I  can't  understand. 
Why,  the  plows  I've  seen  aren't  much  better  than 
sharpened  sticks,  and  the  farmers  cut  down  grain 
with  sickles.  I  rather  guess  their  eyes  would  open 

[114] 


IN  CALCUTTA 

at  sight  of  the  machines  American  farmers  use." 

"Poor  creatures!"  Mr.  Andrews  sighed.  "How 
hard  they  work  to  get  a  bare  living ! ' ' 

"Hm!  Most  of  them  don't  get  that."  Joe's  eyes 
flashed.  "I've  seen  money-lenders  wherever  I've 
been.  I  suppose  they  make  the  people  pay  big  in- 
terest for  the  small  sums  they  lend  them." 

"And  I've  seen  letter  writers  on  the  streets  in 
every  place  we've  visited,  with  people  around  them 
telling  them  what  to  put  down,"  said  Lucy. 

"Do  you  know,  Lucy,  why  there  are  so  many  let- 
ter writers  in  India?"  asked  her  uncle. 

"Yes,  both  Charlie  Davidson  and  Nanko  spoke  of 
the  reason  for  this.  They  said  that  while  there  are 
some  very  learned  Hindus,  by  far  the  greater  num- 
ber of  the  people  cannot  read  or  write.  I  think  that 
is  pitiful." 

"Speaking  of  Charlie,"  Joe  broke  in.  "He  ex- 
pected to  be  in  Calcutta  by  this  time,  and  promised 
to  go  sightseeing  with  us  here." 

"I  have  a  telegram  from  his  father  in  my  pocket." 
Mr.  Andrews  smiled.  ' 1 1  was  about  to  tell  you  what 
it  said  when  you  began  to  talk  about  India.  The 
Colonel  and  Charles  will  arrive  here  to-morrow 
morning. ' ' 

"Hurrah!"  cried  Joe,  jumping  up  in  delight. 

"I'm  glad  too!"  exclaimed  Lucy.  "Charlie  is 
real  good  company." 

The  next  morning,  as  the  telegram  promised, 

[US] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

Charles  Davidson  and  his  father  arrived  in  Cal- 
cutta. In  fact,  before  the  twins  had  finished  break- 
fast their  boy  friend  walked  in  upon  them  with 
stories  to  tell  of  his  adventures  up  in  the  Himalayas, 
and  at  Simla,  the  summer  capital  of  India. 

"Delhi  is  too  hot  for  the  government  to  carry  on 
its  work  there  during  the  summer,"  Charlie  ex- 
plained. "So  the  Viceroy  and  the  leading  officials 
move  with  their  families  to  Simla,  which  is  so  high 
up  that  they  can  be  cool  and  comfortable  all  the 
time." 

"It's  lively  there,  I  can  tell  you,"  Charlie  went  on. 
"There  are  dances  and  feasts  and  gay  parties  week 
after  week.  I  like  it  because  it's  a  pretty  place,  with 
beautiful  ilex  forests  about  it,  and  the  snow-topped 
mountains  in  sight  all  the  time.  And  yet  I  don't 
care  to  stay  there  very  long. ' '  Charlie  drew  a  long 
breath. 

"Why?"  asked  Lucy  curiously. 

"Because  a  boy  can't  feel  free  and  easy  there.  He 
has  to  be  dressed  just  so  and  have  his  hair  brushed 
carefully  all  the  time."  The  boy  laughed.  "Not 
much  fun  in  that,  is  there?" 

"I  should  say  not!"  cried  Joe.  "But  how  was  it 
at  Darjiling  where  you  were  last?  I  wish  we  could 
have  gone  there  and  got  a  close  view  of  the  highest 
mountain  peaks  in  the  world.  Uncle  Ben,  though, 
said  we  must  try  to  be  satisfied  with  what  we  saw 
of  the  Himalayas  at  Kashmir. ' ' 

[116] 


IN  CALCUTTA 

"Darjiling  is  a  great  place. "  Charlie's  brown 
eyes  snapped.  "Why,  Joe,  I  can't  say  anything 
that  would  make  you  understand  how  grand  it  is. 

"To  begin  with,  not  far  away  is  Mount  Everest, 
five  and  a  half  miles  high,  standing  like  a  mighty 
king  in  the  midst  of  other  snow-topped  mountains. 
These  keep  us  from  realizing  how  lofty  Mount  Ever- 
est is. 

"It's  a  wonderful  sight,  I  can  tell  you,  but  not  as 
wonderful  as  Kanchanyanga  because  it  is  not  shut 
in  at  all.  A  week  ago  I  was  standing  in  the  valley 
of  the  Ranjit  Eiver,  which  comes  roaring  and  rush- 
ing along  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  From  there 
I  could  look  straight  up  the  slopes  to  the  very  sum- 
mit. Grand !  Why  it  almost  took  my  breath  away ! ' ' 

"Isn't  Darjiling  noted  for  anything  besides  the 
views  of  the  mountains  to  be  got  there?"  asked 
Lucy.  "I've  been  told  of  something,  I'm  sure." 

"Certainly.  On  the  slopes  of  the  hills  about  it  a 
great  deal  of  tea  is  raised  and  brought  to  Darjiling 
for  shipment.  But  come,  twins,  suppose  we  start 
out  for  some  sightseeing.  I've  had  to  keep  still  a 
long  time  on  the  journey  down  here,  and  need  some 
exercise. ' ' 

"I'm  ready,"  declared  Joe  at  once. 

"And  I,"  said  Lucy.  "And  I'm  sure  Nanko  has 
nothing  to  keep  him  from  going,  though  Uncle  Ben 
and  Aunt  Nell  said  they  wanted  to  rest  this  morn- 


ing." 


[117] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

A  few  minutes  afterwards  three  happy  children, 
with  Nanko  to  look  after  them,  were  riding  around 
Calcutta. 

' '  What  a  beautiful  city  it  is ! "  exclaimed  Lucy,  af- 
ter passing  through  wide  streets  where  many  of  the 
buildings  were  as  elegant  as  palaces. 

"Now,  in  late  September,  it  is  a  good  time  to  see 
Calcutta, ' '  said  Charles.  * '  I  don 't  believe  you  would 
find  handsomer  parks  than  those  of  this  city  any- 
where. This  afternoon,  towards  sunset,  you  must 
get  your  aunt  and  uncle  to  ride  through  the  Maidan 
with  you.  Then  you  will  see  plenty  of  style,  I  can 
tell  you — wealthy  people  in  beautiful  carriages 
drawn  by  splendid  horses;  an  Indian  prince  per- 
haps, riding  in  state  with  richly  dressed  attendants ; 
officers  on  horseback,  and  so  on.  There!  I  won't 
say  any  more.  Just  wait  till  you  go  there." 

"But  now,  suppose  we  visit  the  Zoological  Gar- 
dens and  see  the  wild  beasts." 

"Any  tigers?"  asked  Joe  at  once. 

"Hm!  I  should  say."  Charles  laughed.  "The 
last  time  I  went  there  I  saw  a  tiger  whose  fierce 
green  eyes  devoured  me  even  though  his  teeth 
couldn't  because  he  was  caged.  So  don't  be  afraid, 
Lucy.  You'll  be  quite  safe." 

Lucy,  quite  satisfied,  was  as  eager  for  the  visit 
as  Joe,  and  the  rest  of  the  morning  passed  in  the 
company  of  wild  creatures  of  India. 

[118] 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

BULLOCKS    ARE    USED    TO    HAUL    PRODUCTS    FROM    THE    RICH    INLAND 

PLAINS.— Page  119 


IN  CALCUTTA 

Then  in  the  afternoon  came  the  ride  through  the 
Maidan  and  afterwards  along  the  water  front. 

"  Uncle  Ben,  you  told  me  that  Calcutta  is  a  good 
many  miles  from  the  ocean  and  yet  I  saw  ships  from 
all  over  the  world  this  afternoon,"  said  Joe  after 
the  travelers  had  returned  to  the  hotel. 

' 'It  is  because  large  ships  can  sail  up  the  river 
delta,  through  this  branch,  called  the  Hugli  Eiver, 
and  find  a  safe  place  to  anchor  here, ' '  explained  Mr. 
Andrews.  "For  this  reason,  and  also  because  so 
many  of  the  products  of  India  can  be  brought  down 
the  river  here  for  shipment  from  the  rich  inland 
plains,  Calcutta  has  an  immense  trade  with  the  rest 
of  the  world  and  has  become  the  largest  city  of 
India." 

"  It  is  called  the  *  City  of  Palaces, '  ' '  said  Mrs.  An- 
drews thoughtfully. 

' '  And  why  not  t ' '  asked  Joe.  * '  We  have  certainly 
seen  enough  grand  houses  to-day  to  give  it  that 
name." 

"And  yet" — his  aunt  spoke  sadly — "the  part  of 
Calcutta  where  the  natives  live,  within  almost  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  palaces,  too,  is  anything  but  a 
place  of  beauty.  Such  wretched  mud  and  straw 
huts,  crowded  together  along  narrow  muddy  lanes ! 
Such  wretched-looking  people  living  in  those  huts — 
over  five  hundred  thousand  of  them,  I  understand ! 
How  sorry  I  am  for  the  poor  children  who  must  grow 
up  in  such  homes  as  those." 

[119] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

"I'm  sorry  too!"  cried  Lucy.  "I  saw  naked 
babies  on  the  streets  there  this  afternoon,  with  their 
almost  naked  brothers  and  sisters  playing  about 
them.  They  seemed  happy  though — really  they  did, 
Aunt  Nell.  And  they  laughed  and  shouted  as  gayly 
as  if  nothing  bothered  them!" 

' '  But  by  and  by  when  they  are  older  it  will  be  dif- 
ferent." Mrs.  Andre ws's  face  was  full  of  pity. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ON  TO  BURMA 

I  WAS  ever  so  sorry  to  bid  good-by  to  Nanko  at 
Calcutta,  because  he  has  been  such  a  good  guide. 
But  what  a  lovely  surprise  it  was  to  find  you  were 
going  with  us ! "  said  Lucy,  turning  her  bright  eyes 
towards  Charles  Davidson.  The  two  were  standing 
by  the  deck  rail  taking  a  last  look  at  Calcutta. 

"It  was  your  uncle  who  made  the  plan,  you 
know,"  replied  Charles.  "He's  one  of  the  best  men 
I  ever  knew — full  of  fun  too.  I'd  never  take  him 
for  a  Sunday  School  superintendent.  Father  has 
admired  him  from  the  beginning,  and  when  he  pro- 
posed my  taking  this  trip  with  you  to  Burma  father 
said  at  once,  'It's  the  very  thing!'  You  see,  I'd 
been  wanting  to  go  for  ever  so  long.  But  neither 
father  or  mother  could  manage  to  take  the  trip." 

"Besides,  you  are  old  enough  to  sail  back  to  Cal- 
cutta alone,  though  I  wish  you  could  keep  traveling 
with  us."  Lucy's  face  broke  out  into  a  dimpling 
smile. 

"I  wish  I  could.  Traveling  is  great  sport  if  you 
have  good  company.  But  say,  Lucy,  I  wish  you  and 

[121] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

Joe  could  have  taken  a  trip  to  Ceylon.    It's  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  islands  in  the  world. " 

"It  must  be,  to  be  called  the  Pearl  of  the  Eastern 
Seas." 

"I  spent  a  summer  there,"  Charles  went  on. 
"Not  at  the  capital,  Colombo,  but  back  inland  among 
the  mountains.  One  of  them  is  called  Adam's  Peak, 
because  of  an  old  legend  that  Adam  stayed  there  at 
one  time.  But  what  do  you  suppose  I  think  of  at 
the  mention  of  Ceylon,  Lucy?" 

"Of  the  fine  tea  raised  there?  My  parents  like 
Ceylon  tea  better  than  any  other  kind." 

"No,  it  isn't  that,  though  I  don't  wonder  you 
thought  of  it  because  a  great  deal  of  tea  is  raised  on 
the  island.  Nor  is  it  of  the  humped  cows  and 
chickens  and  cocoa  palms,  and  groups  of  brown 
children  everywhere  about;  nor  even  of  the  fine 
groves  of  cinnamon  trees  so  common  on  the  island. 
It's  the  queer  dress  of  the  men  of  Ceylon." 

"Oh,  tell  me  what  it  is!"  cried  Lucy.  "It  seems 
as  if  I'd  seen  every  possible  kind  of  dress  since  I 
reached  India  three  months  ago. ' ' 

"But  you  never  yet  saw  a  huge  tortoise  shell  comb 
on  the  top  of  a  man's  head!"  Charles  laughed,  and 
Lucy  with  him.  "Every  Cinghalese  man,  I  do  be- 
lieve, not  only  wears  a  striped  skirt  and  gay-colored 
jacket  like  the  women,  but  an  immense  comb.  It's 
a  funny  sight,  I  can  tell  you." 

[122] 


"  What  have  you  two  been  talking  about  so  long!  " 
suddenly  cried  a  boy's  voice  behind  Lucy. 

" About  what  you  would  like  to  have  heard,"  was 
the  little  girl's  quick  answer. 

"I've  been  hearing  some  interesting  things  my- 
self." Joe  grinned.  "I've  been  in  the  pilot  house 
with  Uncle  Ben  and  the  captain,  who  was  ever  so 
chummy.  He  treated  us  to  tea  and  cake,  and  told  us 
a  good  deal  about  the  city  of  Madras  and  the  coun- 
try between  it  and  Bombay.  He  used  to  live  in 
Madras — says  it's  the  third  city  of  India  in  size,  and 
that  south  of  it  are  other  cities  containing  some  of 
the  finest  temples  of  India.  One  of  these  is  the 
Temple  of  Sriringam.  It  contains  the  Hall  of  a 
Thousand  Pillars  and  the  famous  Horse  Court 
where  the  stone  pillars  are  carved  in  the  shape  of 
horses.  This  temple  is  the  largest  one  in  India,  yet 
I  had  never  heard  of  it  before!" 

"Look!"  Charles  exclaimed  suddenly.  "We  are 
out  of  the  river  at  last,  and  before  us  stretches  the 
Bay  of  Bengal. ' ' 

1 '  And  behind  us, ' '  Joe  cried,  who  had  been  watch- 
ing the  trail  of  the  steamer,  "is  the  wide  delta  of 
the  Ganges.  What  an  immense  pouring  of  water 
there  is  into  the  bay!" 

Suddenly  Lucy  broke  out,  "I  shall  enjoy  every 
minute  of  the  sail,  but  I  am  glad,  oh,  so  glad,  that 
we  shall  soon  be  in  Burma." 

[123] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

little  girl's  uncle  and  aunt  came  up  just  in 
time  to  hear  what  she  said. 

"You  were  glad  when  you  reached  Calcutta," 
said  Mr.  Andrews  laughing.  "Now  why  will  you 
be  glad  to  get  to  Burma?  Many  travelers  in  India 
are  satisfied  without  crossing  the  Bay  of  Bengal  to 
visit  the  British  possessions  on  the  other  side.  Let's 
hear  your  particular  reason  for  being  pleased  at 
our  deciding  to  see  a  little  of  Burma." 

"Because — because — "  Lucy  said  with  a  laugh, 
"I've  always  thought  of  Burma  as  a  queer  place 
where  rubies  are  plentiful,  and  where  I  would  see 
thick  forests,  and  watch  elephants  piling  up  lum- 
ber." 

"Hm!  I  suppose  you  expect  to  pick  up  a  few 
rubies  lying  loose  on  the  ground."  Joe  chuckled. 

' '  Well,  who  knows  ? ' '  Lucy  laughed.  *  *  As  for  you, 
Joe  Grayson,  I  know  well  enough  you  expect  to  ride 
elephants  whenever  you  wish." 

"My  heart  is  set  on  crossing  a  river  on  the  back 
of  an  elephant,"  declared  Charles  merrily.  "Or,  if 
I  couldn't  have  my  first  wish,  I  might  get  a  chance 
to  slide  down  hill  on  an  elephant.  I've  hoard  that 
the  wise  creature  sometimes  does  that  rather  than 
run  the  chance  of  taking  a  tumble.  He  crouches  on 
his  hind  legs,  and  presto!  the  bottom  of  the  hill  is 
soon  reached." 

With  lively  talk  and  plans  for  many  an  adven- 
ture, the  voyage  to  Rangoon,  the  capital  of  Burma, 

[124] 


ON  TO  BURMA 

seemed  a  short  one,  and  after  that  our  travelers  at 
once  started  out  sightseeing  in  the  strange  city. 

The  first  thing  to  attract  their  attention  was  the 
great  number  of  women  doing  business  in  the  ba- 
zaars and  other  places. 

"What  keen,  shrewd  faces  these  brown  women 
have!"  remarked  Mrs.  Andrews.  "And  how  much 
freer  they  seem  than  those  we  have  seen  in  the  rest 
of  India!" 

"The  bazaars  here  are  full  of  lovely  things  for 
sale, ' '  said  Joe.  ' '  But  they  are  different  otherwise. 
The  ones  we  visited  to-day  are  stalls  set  up  in  one 
big  building.  They  made  me  think  of  a  big  market 
I  know  of  in  Boston." 

"I  noticed  beautiful  silks  in  the  bazaars,"  said 
Lucy.  "Some  of  them  woven  by  hand  by  the  Bur- 
mese women  too!" 

"And  so  many  things  made  out  of  teakwood!" 
said  Joe.  "I'm  glad  I  bought  some  souvenirs  of 
Burma.  The  best  use  of  the  wood,  they  say,  is  for 
making  masts  of  ships  because  it  is  so  strong." 

"How  low  this  city  is!"  said  Mrs.  Andrews. 
"Some  of  the  buildings  actually  stand  on  piles 
driven  into  the  river  bottom." 

"This  is  not  surprising  since  Eangoon  has  been 
built  up  on  the  mud  flats  of  the  Irawadi  delta,"  said 
Mr.  Andrews.  "You  all  know  it  is  the  leading  rice 
port  of  the  world." 

"Yes,  and  also  that  the  whole  valley  of  the  Ira- 
[125] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

wadi  consists  of  fields  of  rice,"  said  Charles,  eager 
to  show  his  knowledge.  "My  father  told  me  that 
there  are  millions  of  rice  farms  here  in  Burma.  If 
so  much  rice  grows  in  the  country  it  must  be  low, 
though  it  is  said  to  be  beautiful." 

"Suppose  we  start  out  to  visit  the  Golden  Pa- 
goda," proposed  Mr.  Andrews.  "We  have  all  been 
sitting  still  talking  long  enough. ' ' 

At  that  there  was  a  lively  bustle  of  getting  ready, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  the  travelers  were  on  their 
way  to  the  famous  Buddhist  monument. 

"Whew!"  cried  Joe  as  the  party  drew  near  the 
Pagoda,  "I  can  easily  believe  that  is  the  largest 
pagoda  in  the  world,  as  the  guide  book  says." 

"It's  wonderful!"  declared  Lucy,  as  she  stretched 
her  neck  to  look  up  to  the  lofty  top  of  the  gilded 
spire.  "Why,  it  must  be  higher  than  any  building 
in  New  York  City!" 

"Notice  how  the  tower  rises,  one  ring  above  an- 
other, and  each  one  smaller  than  the  one  below  it, 
till  it  ends  in  the  spire  of  gold,"  said  Charles. 

"And  on  the  very  top  the  umbrella,  all  of  gold  and 
set  with  jewels!"  said  Joe.  "Yes,  Lucy,  you  are 
right.  This  pagoda  is  wonderful. " 

When  the  party  had  entered  the  building  they 
found  temples  and  shrines  inside  where  faithful 
Buddhists  were  offering  rice  and  flowers,  or  kneel- 
ing in  prayer. 

Afterwards,  as  the  children  walked  back  to  the 
[126] 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

FOUR    HUNDRED    STEPS    LEAD    UP    TO    THE    BURMESE    PAGODA.— Page 


ON  TO  BURMA 

hotel,  Joe  and  Charles  talked  together  a  good  deal 
about  what  they  passed.  The  Burmese  women  in 
gay  silk  gowns,  with  sandals  on  their  feet ;  the  men 
wearing  close  little  caps  made  out  of  squares  of 
cloth;  some  of  these  men  with  bodies  uncovered 
from  their  hips  to  their  knees  except  for  loin  cloths, 
and  showing  tattooed  figures  all  over  their  bare 
legs. 

Most  noticeable  of  all  were  boys  and  girls  with 
large  ornaments  fastened  through  the  lobes  of  their 
ears,  and  smoking.  Yes,  even  a  little  tot  of  two  or 
three  passed  our  travelers  with  a  big  cigar  in  his 
mouth.  Charles  and  Joe  laughed  at  the  sight,  but 
Lucy  was  filled  with  horror  when  they  pointed  out 
the  child  to  her. 

"It's  dreadful!"  she  declared.  "I  wish  I  hadn't 
seen  him.  I've  been  having  the  beautiful  golden 
pagoda  in  my  mind  ever  since  I  left  it.  I  expect  now 
to  dream  of  that  baby  to-night. ' ' 

However,  the  little  girl's  dream  proved  to  be  quite 
different.  It  was  of  the  elephants  to  be  seen  in  the 
lumber  yards  where  her  uncle  had  promised  to  take 
the  children  on  the  morrow. 

When  the  next  day  came — Joe  had  been  so  eager 
for  its  arrival  that  he  actually  lay  awake  a  whole 
hour  the  night  before  thinking  about  it — the  two 
boys  and  Lucy  hurried  through  a  delicious  breakfast 
in  order  to  start  as  soon  as  possible. 

Then,  after  they  arrived  at  the  lumber  yards,  it 
[127] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

was  hard  work  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrews  to  get 
them  away. 

It  was  not  strange,  really,  that  the  children  did 
not  tire  of  watching  the  big  wise,  patient  elephants 
piling  lumber  as  neatly  as  any  man  would  do. 
Would  they  care  to  leave  when  they  had  a  chance  to 
see  elephants  balance  heavy  teak-wood  logs  in  their 
trunks,  and  then  carry  them  to  sawmills  and  place 
them  in  exactly  the  right  place  for  the  big  saws  to 
cut  through  them?  Would  they  willingly  turn  away 
from  the  sight  of  the  wise  creatures  gathering  up 
the  odds  and  ends  of  lumber  scattered  about  the 
yards  and  placing  them  in  piles  to  be  carried  away? 
Indeed  not ! 

"Dear,  dear!"  cried  Joe,  while  tears  of  laughter 
ran  down  his  cheeks.  *  *  That  is  the  best  of  all. ' '  He 
was  looking  towards  the  feeding  sheds. 

A  big  bell  in  the  yards  had  rung  the  hour  for 
dinner;  and  at  the  sound  every  elephant,  without 
a  word  from  his  master,  had  stopped  work  on  the 
instant  and  started  for  the  place  where  the  noon 
meal  would  be  served  them.  No  wonder  that  Joe 
laughed. 

One  visit  to  the  lumber  yards  was  not  enough  for 
the  travelers,  by  any  means.  The  second  one  proved 
even  better  than  the  first  because  then  the  visitors 
were  allowed  to  feed  a  pleasant-looking  old  elephant 
with  oranges  and  custard  apples.  It  was  great  sport 
watching  him  gently  take  the  fruit  from  their  out- 

[128] 


ON  TO  BURMA 

stretched  hands  in  the  curled-up  end  of  his  trunk 
and  carry  it  carefully  to  his  mouth. 

That  afternoon  the  children  had  another  treat 
watching  a  number  of  elephants  take  their  bath  in 
the  river.  How  the  big  creatures  loved  the  water ! 
What  fun  they  had  splashing  in  it! 

"  Elephants  are  very  strong,  yet  they  have  to  be 
tended  carefully,"  Charles  Davidson  told  the  twins 
when  at  last  they  left  the  interesting  sight.  "They 
are  apt  to  become  ill  unless  they  eat  and  bathe  regu- 
larly." 

"I  wouldn't  have  missed  our  visit  to  those  lumber 
yards  for  anything,"  said  Joe,  when  the  travelers 
left  Rangoon  to  ride  by  train  farther  into  the  coun- 
try of  Burma. 

"We  sha'n't  be  able  to  visit  Mandalay  because  it 
is  five  hundred  miles  up  the  river, ' '  decided  Mr.  An- 
drews. "I  wish  we  could,  though,  because  it  was 
once  the  capital  of  Burma  before  the  English  took 
the  power  away  from  the  native  ruler. 

1 '  However,  we  will  stop  at  Prome  for  a  while  and 
take  rides  out  into  the  beautiful  country  nearby  to 
watch  the  natives  working  in  the  rice  fields,  visit  a 
forest  of  teak  trees,  and  take  a  ride  or  two  on  ele- 
phants. If  there  is  any  plowing  at  this  season  we 
may  find  elephants  doing  it,  and  that  will  be  inter- 
esting too." 

Every  one  of  these  promises  came  true.  The 
twins  and  their  young  English  friend  had  a  week 

[129] 


TWIN  TRAVELERS  IN  INDIA 

filled  with  delight,  looking  upon  strange  sights  from 
morning  till  night. 

"It  would  take  days  of  steady  writing  to  describe 
to  Daddy  and  Mummie  all  we've  seen  lately,"  de- 
clared Joe  when  the  travelers  were  once  more  back 
in  Eangoon. 

"Don't  begin  the  letter  then  till  after  I've  left 
you,"  said  Charles  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eyes. 

"I  say,  Joe  and  Lucy,"  he  added  as  his  face  grew 
serious,  "I  shall  hate  to  bid  you  good-by." 

"And  we  shall  hate  to  bid  you  good-by,"  said 
Lucy  heartily.  "It's  a  shame  you  can't  keep  on 
traveling  with  us." 

"Where  will  you  go  next!"  asked  Charles.  "You 
haven't  told  me." 

"We  don't  know.  We  never  know."  Lucy 
laughed.  "Uncle  Ben  likes  to  keep  surprising  us 
twins." 

"It's  really  great  sport  this  way,"  said  Joe. 
"We  can  never  guess  what  will  happen  next.  But 
I'll  tell  you  what,  Charlie!  From  the  minute  we 
landed  in  India  to  this  day  it  has  been  one  big, 
long,  steady  adventure.  Just  now  I  feel  as  if  there 
wouldn  't  be  room  in  my  brain  to  hold  any  more  won- 
derful pictures  for  some  time  to  come." 

THE  END 


[130] 


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Elephant 


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These  lively  American  twins,  having  discovered  on 
their  visits  to  South  America  and  the  Holy  Land  that 
traveling  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  way  of  studying 
geography  and  history,  are  delighted  when  their  parents 
accept  for  them  their  uncle's  invitation  to  take  a  trip 
through  India. 

Landing  at  Bombay,  they  travel  northward  to  the  beauti- 
ful Vale  of  Kashmir  and  explore  the  ancient  and  curious 
cities  of  Northern  India.  Then  turning  southwest,  they 
follow  the  great  Ganges  River  to  the  coast  and  cross  the 
Bay  of  Bengal  to  Rangoon.  A  houseboat  adventure,  a 
real  elephant  ride  and  the  hospitality  of  a  native  prince 
are  among  the  many  surprises  of  the  journey,  which  is, 
as  Joe  says  to  his  twin  Lucy,  "  one,  big,  long,  steady 
Adventure." 


